mi 



A XES OF AMERICA. ! 



i 



/ 




FOUNTAIN IN THE GARDEN OF THE LUXEMBOURG. 



TIIK \rrLE TRATN'LD AS A CORDON. 



THE 

PARKS, PROMENADES & GARDENS 

OF 

P A E I S 

DESCRIBED AND COiN'SIDEKED IN RELATION TO THE 
WANTS OP OUR OWN CITIES 

AND OF 

PQBLIC AND PKIVATE GARDENS. 

By W. ROBINSON, F.L.S. 

COBBLSPONJiENT OF THE "TIMES" FOR THE HORTICULTTTEAL DEPABTMENT OF THE GEKAT 
PAKIS EXHIllITIOIf. 




LONDON : 

JOHN MUKRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
1863. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

THE CUAilPS ELYSEES AND THE GARDENS 0? THE LOUVJEIE AND THE 

TTJILEllIES 1 

CHAPTER II. 

THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE AND THE BOIS DE YINCENNES 18 

GARDEN OE ACCLIIIATIZATION IN THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE .... 32 

WATERING THE PARKS 37 

CHAPTER III. 

THE PARC MONCEAU 48 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT 59 

CHAPTER V. 

THE JARDIN DES PLANTES AND THE GARDENS OF THE LUXEMBOURG 68 

CHAPTER YI. 

THE SQUARES, PLACES, CHURCH GARDENS, ETC 82 

THE SQUARE DES BATIGNOLLES 91 

THE SQUARE DE MONTROUGE . . . . ' 95 

THE SQUARE DU TEMPLE 96 

THE SQUARE DES ARTS ET METIERS 98 

THE PLACE ROYALE 99 

THE SQUARE DES INNOCENTS 100 

THE SQUARE DE LA CHAPELLE EXPIATOIRE DE LOUIS XYI 100 

THE SQUARE DE BELLEVILLE 100 

THE SQUARE MONTHOLON 101 

THE SQUARE LOUVOIS 101 

THE SQUARE VINTIMILLE 103 

CHURCH GARDENS AND CEMETERIES 104 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE BOULEVARDS 112 

BATHING 136 



vi 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER YIII. 

PAGE 

THE JARDI^r PLEURISTE AND OTHEE, PUBLIC NURSERIES OF THE CITY 



OF PARIS 139 

THE PUBLIC NURSEMES FOR TREES, SHRUBS, AND HARDY FLOWERS . 155 

CHAPTER IX. 

TREES FOR CITY PARKS, AVENUES, GARDENS, STREETS, ETC, . . .159 
A SELECTION OF THE BEST TREES AND SHRUBS FOR CITIES . . . 165 

CHAPTER X. 

SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN 1S2 

A SELECT LIST OP 100 OF THE SUBTROPICAL PLANTS BEST SUITED 

FOR USE IN OUR CLIMATE 20S 

LIST OF THE BEST TWENTY-FOUR SUBTROPICAL PLANTS 208 

SUBTROPICAL PLANTS THAT MAY BE RAISED FROM SEED 209 

CHAPTER XI. 

HARDY PLANTS FOR THE SUBTROPICAL GARDEN 210 

LIST OF HARDY HERBACEOUS AND ANNUAL PLANTS, ETC., OF FINE 
HABIT, WORTHY OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE FLOWER GARDEN OR 

PLEASURE GROUND 237 

LIST OF HARDY PLANTS OF FINE HABIT, THAT MAY BE RAISED FROM 

SEED 238 

CHAPTER XII. 

VERSAILLES ' 239 

PONTAINEBLEAU, AND THE GLADIOLUS GROUNDS OF M. SOUCHET . . 251 

THE GARDENS OF ST. CLOUD 259 

MEUDON 260 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE PLANT DECORATION OF APARTMENTS 262 

REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY 280 

PALMS 296 

THE IVY AND ITS USES IN PARISIAN GARDENS 305 

CHAPTER XIV. 

FRUIT CULTURE : HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE ? .312 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING 331 

THE PARADISE, DOUCIN, AND CRAB STOCKS 355 

THE PEAR AS A CORDON 359 

THE PEACH AS A CORDON 366 

THE SHORT PINCHING SYSTEM APPLIED TO THE PEACH 369 



CONTENTS. Vll 
CHAPTER XVr. 

PAGE 

TRAINING 373 

THE PALMETTB YERHIER 373 

PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE 378 

CHAPTER XVII. 

PIG CULTURE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OP PARIS ' . 395 

PRESERVING GRAPES THROUGH THE WINTER WITHOUT LETTING THEM 

HANG ON THE VINES 403 

THE CULTURE OP THE VINE AT THOMERY 412 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE IMPERIAL FRUIT AND FORCING GARDENS AT VERSAILLES . . . 424 
THE NEW FRUIT GARDEN OF THE CITY OF PARIS IN THE BOIS DE 

VINCENNES 433 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL 440 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE MARKET GARDENS OF PARIS 462 

CHAPTER XXI. 

MUSHROOM CULTURE 472 

„ „ IN CELLARS AND IN THE OPEN AIR . . . ,484 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE CULTURE OF SALADS 489 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

ASPARAGUS CULTURE 501 

PREPARATION OP THE GROUND 500 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

OBSERVATIONS ON SOME OF THE VEGETABLES OF THE PARIS MARKET . 515 

CULTURE OF THE SMALL CARROT 520 

THE CARDOON 522 

FORCING THE CAULIFLOWER 524 

THE SWEET POTATO 525 

EARLY POTATOES 527 

OLEANDER CULTURE 528 

CULTURE OF THE ORANGE 531 

SHOWING ROSES IN FRANCE 535 

FORCING THE WHITE LILAC 537 

h 2 



viii 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

PAGE 

TLOWEK, FEUTT, A^CD VEGETABLE MARKETS 539 

LIST OF PLACES IN WHICH THE MORE INSTRUCTHTS EEATURES OF 

PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE MAY BE SEEN 545 

THE CLIMATES OF PARIS AND LONDON COMPARED 548 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

HORTICULTURAL MACHINES, IMPLEMENTS, APPLIANCES, ETC. . . . 551 

TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES 551 

CARRIAGE FOR TRANSPORTING ORANGE TREES 561 

TRUCK FOR TUBS OR VERY LARGE POTS 502 

TUBS FOR ORAKGE TREKS, ETC 563 

GARDEN CHAIRS AND SEATS 563 

GRAFTING MASTIC 565 

IMPROVED FRUIT SHELVES 5 60 

DRYING FRUIT ROOMS 506 

THE PANIER 567 

PLOUGH-HOE 568 

THE DINETTE 568 

FRAMES FOR FORCING 568 

MATS FOR COVERING PITS AND FRAMES 560 

THE NUMEROTEUR 572 

THE SECATEUR 574 

THE RAIDISSEUR 570 

MATERIAL FDR TYING PLANTS 579 

PROTECTION FOR WALL AND ESPALIER TREES 582 

SHADING FOR CONSERVATORIES 586 

ATTACHING WIRE TO GARDEN-WALLS, TRELLISING, ETC 587 

EDGINGS FOR PARKS, PUBLIC GARDENS, SQUARES, DRIVES, ETC. . . 593 
THE CLOCHE 596 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

notes of a horticultural tour through parts of france . . . 000 

lyons coo 

l'ecole regionale de la saulsaie 604 

DIJON 009 

angers 010 

NANTES . 013 

ROUEN „ 614 

TROYES 019 

bourg-la-reine 623 

SCEAUX 028 

CHATILLON, FONTENAY AUX ROSES 028 

SUISNES 028 

BRUNOY 633 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



FIG. - PAGE 

1. Evening conceet in the 

Champs Elysees ... 6 

2. Circus in the gardens of the 

Champs Elysees ... 7 

3. Avenues radiating from the 

Place de I'Etoile ... 8 

4. L'Arc de Triomphe du Car- 

rousel 9 

5. Plan of small gardens in the 

Place Napoleon III. . . 10 

6. Statue of Winter in the 

Tuileries gardens . . . 12 

7. The Rhone and the Saone in 

the Tuileries gardens . . 14 

8. Group in the Tuileries gar- 

dens 15 

9. One of the small lakes in 

the Bois de Boulogne . . 19 

10. Grand Cascade in the Bois 

de Boulogne .... 20 

11. Winter scene on the lake in 

the Bois de Boulogne . . 21 

12. Cisterns for receiving heavy 

rains from the drives of the 
Bois de Boulogne ... 30 

13. Ostriches in the Jardind'Ac- 

climatation 32 

14. Streamlet in the Jardind'Ac- 

elimatation 33 

15. Conservatory in the Jardin 

d'Acclimatation ... 34 

16. Bestaurant in the Bois de 

Vincennes 35 

17. Section of perforated self- 

acting hose on wheels . . 39 

18. Hose on wheels with double 

row of perforations . . . 39 

19. Hose on wheels for watering 

roads, etc 41 

20. Details of the preceding 

figure 42 

21. Hose allowed to play on the 

grass, etc 46 

22. Plants isolated on the grass 52 



FIG. 

23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 



27. 

28. 

29. 

30. 

31. 

32. 

33. 

34. 

35. 
36. 
37. 

38. 
39. 

40. 

41. 

42. 
43. 
44. 

45. 

46. 

47. 

48. 



PAGE 

Plants isolated on the grass 53 
54 

Plan of garden .... 64 
Conservatories and Mu- 
seums in the Jardin des 

Plantes 68 

Aquatic birds in the Jardin 

des Plantes 69 

Animals in the Jardin des 

Plantes 69 

Cedar planted by Jussieu in 

the Jardin des Plantes . 70 
Plan of the Jardin des 

Plantes 71 

The Amphitheatre in the 

Jardin des Plantes . . . 76 
Plan of the Luxembourg 

garden as recently altered 78 
Portion of the plan of a 

Parisian square .... 82 
Portion of the plan of a 

Parisian square .... 91 
The Square des Batignolles 93 
The Square du Temple . . 97 
Children at play in the 

Square des Arts et Metiers 98 
The Place Eoyale ... 99 
Square and Fountain Lou- 

vois 101 

View in the garden of the 

Palais des Thermes . . 102 
The S(\uare and Church of 

St. Ciothil :e 105 

The Cemetery Montmartre . 109 
The Catacombs .... 110 
Paris seven hundred years 

ago 118 

View on the old exterior 

Boulevards 119 

Avenue Victoria, near the 

Hotel de ViUe .... 121 
End view of the Boulevard 

Bichard Lenoir . . .122 
Place du Trone . . . .123 



X 



LIST OF ILLTJSTRATIONS. 



PIG. PAGE 

49. Avenue de Breteuil : the 

arteyian well of Grenelle, 
and the Invalides . . .125 

50. Interior of a floating bath 

on the Seine 136 

51. Glass-covered corridor be- 

tween the plant-houses in 
the Jardin Fleuriste . .143 

52. Plan of glass-houses in the 

Jardin Fleuriste . . .144 

53. Propagating house in the 

Jardin Fleuriste . . . 145 

54. Propagating pot used in the 

Jardin Fleuriste . . .146 

55. Small cutting-pots under 

bell-glass in the Jardin 
Fleuriste 146 

56. Shelves for storing bedding 

plants in the Jardin 
Fleuriste 147 

57. End view of bedding-plant 

houses in the Jardin Fleu- 
riste 149 

58. Plan of the bedding-plant 

houses in the Jardin Fleu- 
riste 150 

59. Caves under the Jardin 

Fleuriste 152 

60. Sophora japonica var, pen- 

dula 163 

61. Variegated Agave . . . 186 

62. Aralia papyiifera . . .187 

63. Aspltnium nidus-avis . . 189 

64. Caladium esculentum . .190 

65. Colocasia odorata . . .191 

66. Canna nigricans .... 192 

67. Canna atro-nigricans . . 193 

68. Ficus elastica 196 

69. Monstera cieliciosa . . . 197 

70. Nicotiana wigandioides . . 199 

71. Polymnia grandis . . . 200 

72. Solanum Warscewiczii . . 203 

73. Solanum robustum . . . 204 

74. Uhdea bipinnatifida . . .205 

75. Wigandia macrophylla . . 207 

76. Acanthus latifolius . . ,211 

77. Aralia Sieboldi .... 213 

78. Bambusa aurea .... 216 

79. Centaurea babylonica . . 218 

80. Chani^rops excelsa . . .219 

81. Ferula communis .... 222 

82. Gynerium argenteum . . 224 

83. Heracleum flavescens . . 226 

84. Melianthus major . . . 227 

85. Nicotiana macrophylla . . 228 

86. Rheum Emodi . . . .230 

87. Anemone japonica alba . . 2o3 

88. Yucca pendula .... 235 

89. Yucca filamentosa var iegata 236 



PIG. PAGE 

90. Statice latifoHa .... 236 

91. The Tapis Vert, Versailles . 246 

92. One of the statues on the 

upper terrace .... 248 

93. Temple de 1' Amour in the 

gardens of the Petit Tria- 
non 249 

94. View in the garden of the 

Petit Trianon .... 250 

95. Canal in the gardens of 

Fontainebleau .... 251 

96. View in the Forest of Fon- 

tainebleau . . . . . 252 

97. The Courteliere . . . .254 

98. TheVerblanc .... 255 

99. A French ideal of tree- 

beauty 259 

100. Meudon 260 

101. Maranta fasciata . . . . 263 

102. Dracaena terminalis . . . 264 

103. Gymnostachyum Verschaf- 

felti 265 

104. Dieffenbachiaseguinamacu- 

lata 266 

105. Alocasla metallica . . . 267 

106. ^Echmea fulgens . . . .268 

107. Caladium argyrites . . . 269 

108. Caladium mirabile . . .270 

109. Pteris cretica albo-lineata . 271 

110. Begonia daedalia .... 272 

111. Maranta rosea-picta . . . 273 

112. DieflFenbachia Baraquiniana 274 

113. Gesnera cinnabarina . . . 275 

114. Saxifrr.-aFortuneivariegata 276 

115. Maranta vittata .... 277 

116. Tillandf-ia splendens ... 278 

117. Marania zebrina .... 279 

118. Pandanus javanicus varie- 

gatus 279 

119. Cordyline indivisa . . .281 

120. Tree Fern for conservatory 282 

121. Polypodium morbillosum . 283 

122. Blechnum brasiliense . . 284 

123. Theophrasta macrophylla . 285 

124. Cycas circinalis .... 287 

125. Aisophila 289 

126. Goniophlebium .... 290 

127. Testudinaria elephantipes . 291 

128. Maranta micans .... 292 

129. Caladium .293 

130. Ananassa satlva variegata . 295 

131. Chaniaedorea latifolia . . . 297 

132. Seaforthia elegans . . .299 

133. Carj* Ota sobolifera . . . 302 

134. Railings covered vv-ith Ivy . 306 

135. Ivy edgings in geometrical 

garden 307 

136. Section of circular bower of 

Irish Ivy 308 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



xi 



FIG. PAGE 

137. Variegated Iry in suspen- 

sion basket 309 

138. Ivy screen for the drawing- 

room 310 

139 Young line of self-support- 
ing Pear Trees 333 

140. The Apple trained as a 

Simple Horizontal Cordon 334 

141. Tree with horizontal branches 335 

142. The Simple Horizontal Cor- 

don 336 

143. The Cordon on wall of plant- 

house 337 

144. Young Cordon of the Lady- 

Apple 338 

145. The Bilateral Cordon . . 339 

146. Eeinette du Canada trained 

as a Cordon 340 

147. Edging of simple Cordons . 341 

148. Grafting by approach to 

unite the points of horizon- 
tal Cordons 342 

149. Another mode of grafting to 

unite the Cordons . . . 343 

150. The horizontal Cordon train- 

ed as an edging .... 344 

151. Border in front of fruit wall 

with two lines of horizontal 
Cordons 353 

152. Peach wall and border with 

five lines of Cordons . . 353 

153. Double espalier of Pears 

with three lines of Cordon 
Apples on each side . . 353 
354. Simple wooden support for 

Cordon 354 

155. Iron support for Cordon 

with ratchet wheel at top . 354 

156. Iron support for Cordon 

let into stone 354 

157. Pear Tree trained as a ver- 

tical Cordon 359 

158. The Pear as a simple oblique 

Cordon, 1st year . . .360 

159. Oblique Cordon Pear, 2nd 

year 360 

160. Oblique Cordon Pear, 3rd 

year 361 

161. Oblique Cordon Pear, 4th 

year . 3Q2 

162. The Pear as an oblique 

Cordon 363 

163. Pear tree trained in U 

form 364 

164. The spiral Cordon against 

walls 365 

165. The spiral Cordon . . . . 366 

166. Peach tree trained as an ob- 

lique Cordon, 1st year . . 367 



PIG. PAGE 

167. Peach tree trained as an ob- 

lique Cordon, 2nd year . 367 

168. Peach tree with three 

branches, a different va- 
riety grafted on each . .369 

169. Peach shoot of the current 

year bearing a number of 
secondary shoots . . . 370 

170. Portion of shoot of Peach 

tree 371 

171. Result of pinching the sti- 

pulary leaves 372 

172. The Palmetto Verrier, 2nd 

pruning 375 

173. The Palmetto Verrier, 3rd 

pruning 375 

174. The Palraette Verrier, 4th 

pruning 375 

175. The Palmetto Verrier, 5th 

pruning 376 

176. Palmette Verrier with 

weakly outer branch com- 
pleted by grafting . . . 377 

177. Pyramidal Pear tree . . .379 

178. Pyramidal Pear tree, first 

pruning 380 

179. Top of young Pear tree . . 380 

180. Pyramidal Pear tree, second 

pruning 381 

181. Leading shoot of Pear tree . 381 

182. Old leading shoot barked 

and used as a stake . . . 382 

183. Pruning to obtain properly 

placed leading shoot . . 382 

184. Incisions made to regulate 

shoots 382 

185. Pyramidal Pear tree, third 

pruning 383 

186. Grafting by approach, to 

cover bare spaces on pyra- 
midal trees 384 

187. Grafting by approach as ap- 

plied to wall and Espalier 
trees 384 

188. Pyramidal Pear tree, fourth 

pruning 385 

189. Pyramidal Pear tree, fifth 

pruning 386 

190. Figure theoretically indi- 

cating tiie mode of form- 
ing a pyramidal Pear tree 387 

191. Young pyramidal Pear tree 387 

192. Pyramidal Pear tree with 

bent branches .... 388 

193. Pyramidal Pear tree, re- 

grafted 389 

194. Wall Pear tree regrafted . 390 

195. Pear tree trained in the 

columnar form .... 391 



xii 



LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. 



riG. PAGE 

196. Pendulous training of wall 

Pear tree 392 

197. Grafting of fruit buds and 

shoots 393 

198. Grafting of fruit buds and 

shoots 393 

199. Grafting of fruit buds and 

shoots 393 

200. Grafting of fruit buds and 

shoots 393 

201. Grafting of fruit buds and 

shoots 393 

202. Proper mode of cutting shoot 394 

203. Shoot cut too long . . .394 

204. Shoot cut too low . . . . 394 

205. Pear shoot properly pinched 394 

206. Pear shoot pinched too short 394 

207. Result of over-pinching . . 394 

208. Another result of over- 

pinching 394 

209. Pinching of the bourgeon 

anticipe 394 

210. Stipulary buds forced to 

start 394 

211. Branch of Fig tree . . .396 

212. Fig tree growing on level 

ground 397 

213. Section showing Fig tree 

growing on level ground . 398 

214. Mode of burying Fig trees 

cultivated on level ground 399 

215. Fig tree planted on sloping 

ground 400 

216. Section showing Fig tree 

planted on inclined ground 401 

217. Fig tree planted on sloping 

ground, buried for the 
winter months .... 401 

218. Stem of Fig the sixth year 

after planting .... 402 

219. Fig branch with young fruit 402 

220. Branch of Fig tree alter the 

gatliering of the crop . . 403 

221. Branch of Fig tree after the 

gatliering of the crop . . 404 

222. Thomery mode of fixing 

bottles for preserving 
Grapes through winter . 407 

223. Ferrieres mode of fixing 

bottles for preserving 
Grapes through winter . 407 

224. Portion of upright used in 

Grape-room at Ferriferes . 407 

225. Interior of Grape-room . . 409 

226. WallofChasselasat Thomery 413 

227. Pose-Charmeiix's system of 

vertical training. . . . 414 

228. Vines trained vertically with 

alternated spurs . . . .414 



FIG. PAGE 

229. Low double Espalier . . . 415 

230. Sections of top of wall at 

Thomery 415 

231. Sulphur distributor em- 

ployed at Thomery . . .416 

232. Pruning to obtain the two 

arms of the Cordon . . .416 

233. Low Espalier of Vines 

trained vertically . . . 417 

234. Layer of Vine raised and 

planted in basket . . .417 

235. Moveable scaffold used for 

thinning the Grapes . .418 

236. Shade to protect Grape- 

thinners from strong sun . 419 

237. Frame for carrying baskets 

of Grapes to store-rooms . 419 

238. Mode of Grafting the Vine 

at Thomery 420 

239. Mode of Grafting the Vine 

by approach at Thomery . 420 

240. Gouge used in grafting the 

Vine 420 

241. Small pit used for forcing 

the Vine 421 

242. Small span-roofed house for 

forcing the Vine . . . 422 

243. Trellis for Pear trees . . 427 

244. Double trellis for Pear 

trees 429 

245. Section of pi'otection used 

for Espalier trees at Ver- 
sailles 431 

246. Side view of protection to 

double line of Espaliers . 431 

247. Border of superimposed 

Cordons at Versailles . . 432 

248. Section of preceding . . . 438 

249. Plan of fruit garden . . . 434 

250. Galvanized iron bracket 

for supporting temporary 
coping 436 

251. Fruit tree in the vase 

form 437 

252. Pear trained in vase form . 43S 

253. Early spring aspect of Peach 

wail in the garden of M. 
Chevallier 441 

254. Leaf of Peach tree attacked 

by the Cloque .... 442 

255. Peach shoot attacked by 

the Cloque 442 

256. Small wooden coping to pro- 

tect young Peach trees in 
spring . . . . . .443 

257. Second pruning of fruiting 

Peach branch . . . .444 

258. Mode of shading the stems 

of fruit trees 445 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



xiii 



FIG. 

259. 



260. 

261. 

262. 
263. 

264. 

265. 

265. 

267. 

268. 
269. 

270. 

271. 

979 



274. 

275. 
276. 

277. 

278. 



2S0. 

281. 
282, 

283, 

284, 
285, 
286 

287 



PAGE FIG. 

Fruiting branch of Peach 288. 

submitted to the third 

year's pruning .... 446 289. 
Pruning to replace old fruit- 
spur 447 200. 

Pesult of preceding opera- 
tion 447 291. 

The Napoleon Peach tree . 448 
Peach trees trained to form 

their owner's name . . 449 
Spring aspect of fruit garden 

formed by M. Lepere . . 451 293. 
Mode of pruning to cover 

bare spaces on the branches 

of Peach trees, ] St year . 452 294. 
Piesult of preceding opera- 
tion, 2nd year .... 452 
Summer management of the j 295. 

Peach 453 

Shoot of Peach . . . . 453 ! 296. 
Peach tree trained horizon- 
tally 454 ' 297. 

Disbudding of the Peach, 

second year 455 298. 

Disbudding of the Peach, 

second year 455 299. 

Grafting by approach to | 

furnish bare spaces on | 300. 

branches of the Peach tree 456 j 
Multiple grafting by ap- j 301. 

proach to fundsh bare | 

spaces on the stems of ! 302. 

Peach trees 457 303. 

Details of Figs. 272 and 

273 458 304. 

Xail basket 458 

Peach trained in the double 305. 

U form 459 

Peach trained in the double 

U form 460 306. 

Pump used in the market 

gardens of Paris . . .463 307. 
"Water pot used by the 

market gardeners of Paris 464 
Moutli of Mushroom Cave 308. 

at Montrouge .... 473 
View in Mushroom Cave . 475 309. 
Entrance to subterranean 

quarry 478 310. 

Plan of large subterranean 311. 

quairy 479 312. 

Section following the line 313. 

C D in preceding figure . 480 
Extracting the stone in sub- 314. 

terranean quarries . . . 482 315. 
View in old subterranean 

quarries devoted to Mush- 316. 

room culture . . . .483 317. 
Newly made Mushroom beds 484 



PAGE 

Mushroom bed on shelf 

against wall of ce'lar . . 485 
Pyramidal Mushroom bed 

on floor of cellar . . . 485 
Mushrooms grown in bottom 

of old cask 486 

Four plants of the Lettuce 
Petite Noire under the 

Cloche 490 

Sloping bed for three rows 

of Cloches 491 

Diagram showing the dif- 
ferent stages of Lettuce 
culture under the Cloche . 493 

Figure showing annual 
earthings given to Aspa- 
ragus 503 

Figure showing mode of 
planting Asparagus . . 507 

Common mode of forming 
an Asparagus plantation . 50S 

Preparation for forcing As- 
paragus 513 

Mode of tying-up the Car- 
doon for blanching . . . 523 

Early Potatoes arranged for 
" sprouting" indoors . . 527 

The flower market at the 
Madeleine 543 

Tree-lifting machine : side 
elevation 552 

Plan of tree-lifting machine 553 

Tree-lifting machine : back 
view 554 

Tree-lifting machine ; front 
view 555 

Trunk of large tree recently 
planted enveloped in moss 
and canvas 557 

Small machineforliftingspe- 
cimen shrubs and Conifers 559 

Screw used in preparing 
specimens for removal as 
shown in preceding figure 560 

Bar of carriage for trans- 
porting Orange trees . .561 

Carriage for transporting 
Orange trees .... 562 

Truck for moving plants . 562 

Tub for Orange trees . . 563 

Garden chair 563 

Seat with box for climbing 
plants 564 

Seat with tent-like shade . 564 

Portion of Pear stand at 
Ferri^res 566 

Uprii^ht for Pear stands . 566 

Position of fruit on Pear 
stand 566 



XIV 



LIST or ILLUSTRATIONS. 



318. 

319. 
320. 
321. 
322. 

323. 

324. 

325. 
326. 
327. 
328. 
329. 
330. 
331. 
332. 
333, 

334. 

335. 
336. 
337. 
338. 
339. 



340. 
341. 
342. 
343. 
344. 

345. 
346. 

347. 



Arrangement for using chlo- 
ride of calcium .... 567 

Panier 567 

The plough hoe ... . 568 

The Binette 568 

iSTarrow frames used by the 

market gardeners of Paris 569 
Prame for making straw 

mats 570 

Frame covered with neat 

straw mat 571 

The Num^roteur .... 573 
The Secateur Vauthier . . 575 
The Secateur Lecointe . . 576 
The common Secateur . . 576 
The Paidisseur .... 577 
Key of Paidisseur . . . 577 
Collignon's Paidisseur . . 577 
Side view of preceding . . 578 
Paidisseur used in the gar- 
den of the Exhibition . . 578 
The simplest and best form 

of Paidisseur . . . .579 
Sparganium ramosum . . 581 
Mode of protecting walls . 582 
)> . 583 
Double Espalier .... 584 
Wall protected with wide 
temporary coping and can- 
vas curtains 585 

Mode of fixing iron support 586 
Lath shade for Conservatory 586 
. 587 
. 588 

Mode of arranging wires on 
walls . 588 

Wall with galvanized wires . 589 

Galvanized wire on walls for 
training Cordons . . . 590 

Wall wired for Cordon 
training 591 



! Fr&. 
! 348. 

I 

; 349. 

350. 

351. 

352. 
353. 
354. 
355. 

356. 
357. 
358. 
359. 

360. 
361. 
362. 

363. 

364. 

365. 
366. 
367. 
368. 
369, 

370. 
371. 
372. 
373. 



374. 
375. 
376. 



PAGE 

Trellis for young trees in 
nurseries 592 

Edgings for parks and public 
gardens ...... 594 

Edgings for parks and public 
gardens 595 

Edgings for parks and public 
gardens 595 

The Cloche 596 

59T 

...... 597 

The Cloche in the propa- 
gating house 598 

Winged Pear tree . . . 617 

Plan of preceding figure . 618 

Name formed by Pear trees 621 

Pear induced to emit its 
own roots 622 

Pesult of preceding operation 622 

Plan of fruit garden . . . 626 

Pear tree shown at the 
Exhibition 627 

Walk arched over with 
fruit trees 628 

Simple mode of supporting 
Espalier tree . . . . .629 

Details of the preceding . . 629 
^ „ . . „ . . 629 

"V iew in fruit garden . . 630 

Plan of Espalier . . .630 

Monogram formed by fruit 
trees 631 

Self-supporting Espaliers . 632 
. 633 
r . 633 

Pear tree from Espalier 
trained to form the name 
Nallet 634 

Pear tree in crinoline form 635 
636 

Plan of preceding . . . 636 



LIST OF PLATES. 



riG. PA&E 

1. The Place de la Concorde 2 

2. The Avenue des Champs Elys^es 4 

3. Scene in the Champs Elysees 6 

4. The Champs Elysees near the Palais de I'lndustrie 8 

5. The Place du Carrousel 10 

6. The Gardens of the Tuileries 14 

7. Island and Restaurant iu the Bois de Boulogne 26 

8. Cascades in the Bois de Boulogne 22 

9. Lake and islands in the Bois de Boulogne 18 

10. Stream and rocks near Longchamps 24 

11. View in the Bois de Vincennes 35 

12. Mode of watering the grass in the parks 40 

13. „ „ roads, drives, &c 44 

14. The Pare Monceau 50 

15. Fine-leaved plants in the Pare Monceau 56 

16. Lake and cliffs in the Pare des Buttes Chaumont 60 

17. Bird's-eye View in the Pare des Buttes Chaumont 62 

18. The Gardens and Palace of the Luxembourg 76 

19. Woodwardias in the Conservatories of the Luxembourg Garden . . 81 

20. View of the Square and Tour St. Jacques 82 

21. The Square and Tour St. Jacques 84 

22. ,, Fountain des Innocents 86 

23. View of the Palais des Thermes from the garden 103 

24. Church of the Trinity, with garden and fountain in front 106 

25. The Gardens of the Palais Royal 88 

26. The Cemetery of Pere La Chaise 108 

27. The Place du Chatelet 116 

28. View on the Boulevards near the Chateau d'Eau 114 

29. The Boulevard du Temple 120 

30. ,, Montmartre 124 

31. ,, ,, St. Michel 126 

32. The Louvre, Institut, and Quais 137 

33. Bambusa falcata 215 

34. The Palace and Gardens of Versailles 239 

35. View from the Tapis Vert . 240 

36. Fountains of the basin of Neptune 242 

37. La Toilette d'ApoUon 244 



XVI 



LIST OF PLATES. 



PIG. PAGB 

38. The Colonnade at Versailles 247 

39. V^iew in the Gardens of the Petit Trianon 250 

40. The Parterre at Fontainebleau 353 

41. View from the Parterre at Fontainebleau 254 

42. Gardens and Palace of St. Cloud 259 

43. The Peach trained as an oblique cordon 368 

44. Pear tree trained as a Palmette Verrier 374 

45. View in Mushroom Caves under Montrouge 477 

46. The Halles Centrales 540 . 

47. Interior of the Halles Centrales 542 

48. The Place St. Sulpice 544 

MAPS :- 

Bois de Boulogne 28 

Vincennes . 36 

Versailles et les Trianons 248 



BY TKE SAME AUTHOR. 

In Preparation, and will be Published during the present Year, 

^LI^IDSTE I>3L,-A.3SrTS. 

This book will contain an explanation of the principles on wliicli the exquisite flora 
of Alpine countries may be grown in all parts of the British Islands ; illustrations of 
properly formed rockwork for these plants, with sections showing the wrong as well 
as the right modes of constructing it ; views of the natural homes of the plants, 
illustrating the Author's tour in the Alps, and a description, devoid of all technicalities, 
of a choice selection of the more beautiful and interesting kinds, and their successful 
cultivation. 



INTEODUCTION. 



" And let it appeare that he doth not change his Country Manners for 
those of Forraigne Parts : But only prick in some Flowers of that he 
hath Learned abroad into the Customes of his own country." 

Bacox's Essay on Travel. 



The success met witli by my little book on Frencli horticul- 
ture led me to hope that a work describing the progress of 
our neighbours in city improvements_, and giving a detailed 
account of the production of the more important fruits and 
vegetables for the Paris market,, might prove useful. Hence 
the present volume. In my " Gleanings from French 
Gardens/'' the question of public gardening was scarcely 
alluded to ; in this book nearly one half is devoted to parks, 
wide tree-planted roads, public gardens, squares, and similar 
means of rendering great, ugly, gloomy, filthy human 
hives fitter dwelling-places for vast hosts of men. A belief 
that London may, without great sacrifice on our part, be 
made the noblest city in the world — as fair and clean as 
wide-spreading and wealthy — and the knowledge that the 
system of public gardening now pursued by us is not the 
one calculated to lead to this end, have induced me to give 
the stay-at-home public, and especially that section of it 
interested in city improvement, an idea of the eff'orts that 
are being made in the capital of France to ameliorate the 
conditions of life. 

There is no need to expatiate on the necessity of a 
thoroughly good system of public gardening in the great 
cities of a wealthy and civilized race ; nor to describe the 
want of it in our own case — this is painted but too plainly 
on the faces of thousands in our densely-packed cities, in 

c 



xviii 



INTRODUCTION. 



wMcli tlie active brain and heart of fhe country are con- 
tinually being concentrated. That London is no longer 
a city_, but a nation gathered together in one spot, is a 
truism : our other great cities are almost keeping pace 
"with it in growth; but in none of them can we see a 
trace of any attempt to open up their closely peopled 
quarters in a way that is calculated to produce a really 
beneficial effect on the lives and health of their workers. 
Parks we have, it is true ; yet they but partially supply the 
necessities of large cities. They would serve all our wants 
if the population breathed only as often as they put on 
holiday attire or have time to walk, it may be several miles, 
to a park; but, as we are constituted, room for locomotion, 
room for the ever- cleansing breeze to search out impurities, 
room for a few trees to steal away the dark and unlovely 
aspect of our streets — in a word, room for breathing — is a 
more pressing necessity than parks. The French have theii' 
parks and public gardens, and very extensive and well- 
managed ones, though, like some of our own, embellished 
in a wasteful and unnecessary manner with costly and tender 
plants ; but their noble tree-planted roads, small public 
squares and places, are doing more for them than parks 
and pelargoniums — saving them from pestilential over- 
crowding, and making their city something besides a place 
for all to live out of who can afford it. 

A great many of us Britons are apt to connect real city 
improvement with autocratic government. One has only 
to speak of our backwardness, when he is instantly re- 
minded that it is all in consequence of not being blessed 
with a Napoleon, and that there is for us no chance of 
amelioration except we can secure a ruler who, after puri- 
fying and putting our cities into decent nineteenth century 
order, will good-humouredly take a montVs notice to 
quit. If the logic of such reasoners were at all in pro- 
portion to their abundance, we should move onward but 
little more progressively than the man-like apes. There is 
no natural human want or wrong that cannot be remedied 
by human wisdom and energy ; and the most crying evil of 
this period of change, when the mass of workers are steadily 



INTRODUCTION. 



xix 



deserting the country for the city, is that our towns are 
still built upon a plan worthy of the dark ages, and 
barely justifiable where the breath of the meadow sweeps 
through the high street. Another notion is that the expense 
of such improvements must always prevent them from being 
carried out. " No labour/'' says Emerson — ^' no labour, 
pains, temperance, poverty, nor exercise, that can gain 
health must be grudged ; for sickness is a cannibal which ' 
eats up all *the life and youth it can lay hold of, and absorbs 
its own sons and daughters. And shall we spare even less 
in the attempt to provide for the bodily health and happi- 
ness of three millions of men closely packed in a city grow- 
ing faster than the giant bamboo ? 

The real want is a want of plan ; and that it is to be hoped 
Parliament will soon give us power to obtain. At present this 
want is glaringly apparent not only in the central and more 
crowded parts, but all round London, where admirable pre- 
parations may be seen for the formation of a mighty cordon 
of suburban St. Gileses twenty years hence. Next comes 
the question of expense, and from that neither autocrats 
nor parliaments can so readily relieve us. Is it too much 
to hope that a portion of our vast expenditure for arsenals, 
armies, fleets, and fortifications may some day be diverted 
to making such alterations in our cities as will render 
possible in them the rearing of worthy representatives of 
the English race ? Let us hope not ; but supposing that 
we should never see even the dawn of so desirable an era, 
and that money should still be profusely spent in every way 
but that of rendering our cities worthy of our time, our 
knowledge, our civilization, and our race, there yet remains 
a course by which we may effect some good without in- 
creasing the expenditure we bestow on parks and public 
gardens generally, and that is by a complete alteration in the 
direction of the outlay. 

Our public gardening differs chiefly from that of Paris 
and other continental cities by keeping itself away from 
the very parts where its presence is most waDted. We 
have parks almost prairie-like in their roominess, yet 
locomotion is scarcely possible in those parts of the city 

c 2 



XX 



INTRODUCTION. 



where the chief commerce of this great empire is carried on, 
and square miles of densely packed regions are no more 
benefited by them than if they never existed. I believe 
that_, by the diversion of all needless expenditure from the 
parks_, and by converting this and all the future money that 
can be spared, to the improvement of the densely crowded 
parts, we may effect an admirable change for the better. 
The parks are now managed on a scale which is quite un- 
justifiable, if we take into consideration the many miserable 
quarters of London which are utterly neglected. It must 
be understood, however, that no imputation is here made 
against their practical management; but the system of 
richly embellishing them whilst paying no attention to im- 
provements better calculated to humanize our existence in 
towns, is unwise in every way. 

Everybody conversant with the London parks must have 
noticed the great display of tender flowers and costly garden- 
ing which has been presented in them for some years back. 
This decoration is of such a nature that it has to be renewed 
every year ; andin every case a set of glass-houses, with all their 
consequent expense for fuel and labour, must be maintained 
for each park. On this principle a spot of ground not larger 
than a table may annually cost several pounds for its embel- 
lishment. There is nothing about the system more notice- 
able and objectionable than its growth. Each park is ap- 
proaching more and more the character of a costly garden, 
while for the want of a few hardy trees, a patch of green 
sward, and a spread of gravel to act as a playground for 
children instead of the gutter, many close districts of London 
are so foul and cheerless as to be a byeword all over the 
world. It is perfectly natural that the superintendents of 
our parks should each wish to make the one under his charge 
as attractive as the others, from a mere gardening point of 
view ; and it is even more natural that the authorities should 
accept the opinions of those officials as the most trustworthy 
on such matters ; but it should be the duty of both to consult 
the public interest above all things, and that interest points 
to a complete alteration. It is always unpleasant to reduce 
an establishment, and doubtless it would be hard for the gar- 



INTRODUCTION. Xxi 

deners to part with their hundreds of thousands of tender 
flowers or to endure a check in their career of converting 
onr parks into sumptuous gardens ; but if they saw that this 
reduction of expenditure would lead to a more wholesome 
outlay elsewhere,, they would willingly help out its adoption. 

No objection could be urged against the costly system 
alluded to w^ere it not for its expense^ which^ as anybody 
may see^ is growing under our eyes every day. It is a 
very good and worthy thing to display much of the beauty 
of exotic vegetation in our parks and public gardens, pro- 
vided we can afford it without doing injustice to those who 
cannot snatch as much time from toil as suffices for an 
airing in the parks. Span a piece of ornamental park water 
with a crystal palace, if you will; convert it into a home 
for the Great Amazonian Water Lily, and fringe it with 
Palms and the richest tropical vegetation ; but first be assured 
that you are able to afford it, and ask yourself whether the 
amount required would not do twenty times the good if 
expended in green grass, and trees, and flowers that endure 
the open air of Britain. Make, if you will, another ridi- 
culous parterre of stone and water squirts like that at the 
head of the Serpentine ; but first consider whether it would 
not be wiser to establish a little verdure and freshness in some 
of the more tumid parts of what Cobbett used to call the 
" great wen."*^ The new avenue gardens in the Eegent^s 
Park, with their griffins and artificial stonework, have cer- 
tainly cost as much as would have created an oasis in some 
pestilential part of the East-end. Even tlie annual expense 
of keeping up one of these park gardens is equivalent to 
what would suffice to form and plant a little square like 
those so freely dotted about Paris during the past dozen 
years ; while the mere conversion of a strip of breezy park 
into an elaborate garden effects no good whatever from a 
sanitary point of view. 

Let us illustrate the matter in a less general way. Last 
year a number of Bay-trees in tubs were placed in Trafalgar 
Square ; and it need hardly be added that these require fre- 
quent attention both in summer and winter — a storehouse 
during the latter season — while the wooden tubs in which 



xxii 



INTRODUCTION. 



they are placed insure by rotting a perpetual^ if trifling, 
expense. These proved that any kind of tree may be 
placed in the streets of London as safely as in any other 
city; but they also showed the very shoi't-sighted_, dis- 
heartening nature of the whole scheme of our public gar- 
dening. Not one single thing could these costly green 
toys do for our streets or open spaces that could not be 
effected infinitely better by hardy trees, requiring no atten- 
tion after planting; and when one thinks of the vast areas 
of this world of London, that are almost impenetrable, mise- 
rable is the only term that can be applied to such remedies 
as this ! It is simply doctoring a wart while a honid 
abscess is sapping away the life of the patient. And ascend- 
ing from contemptible things of this tree-in-tub sort, the 
same reasoning holds good with much of our higher public 
gardening. 

Who would not forego the trifling gratification of seeing 
large portions of our parks so elaborately decorated as to 
require almost as much attention as a drawing-room, if 
the small sacrifice were accompanied by the knowledge 
that tenfold greater good was being carried out where the 
want of it was the blackest spot on our social condition ? 
Are not the materials of nature in our own latitudes 
good enough for us ? See what is done by a few materials 
in her own gardens ; reflect what privileges we have in 
being able to cull her varied riches from the plains and 
mountains all over the temperate and cold and alpine 
regions of both hemispheres ; and then consider whether 
it is wise to spend the public money for glass-houses and the 
annual propagation and preservation of multitudes of costly 
exotics. A better and a nobler system than that which is 
at present the rule in our parks I have endeavoured to point 
out at pages 22 to 29. 

The purposes to which the gi'cater portion of our future 
expenditure in city gardening ought chiefly to be devoted are 
the making of wide tree-bordered roads and small simple 
squares, open to the public at all reasonable hours. The 
squares should not be embellished in a costly way ; but if 
the persons to whose care their design may be entrusted 



INTRODUCTION. 



xxm 



could not make them beautiful and grateful to tlie eye of 
taste by tbe use of hardy materials wbicb require no costly 
annual attention after planting, they should be considered 
unworthy of their posts. Where space could not be aflPorded 
for a little expanse of the ever-welcome turf, even a spot of 
gravelled earth with trees overhead, and a few seats around, 
would be a real improvement. The Parisian system of 
managing squares, described in Chapter VI., is infinitely 
superior to ours, and must sooner or later be adopted with us. 
Of course its adoption need not necessarily interfere with 
the private squares, but it should be tried on a small scale at 
the earliest opportunity. 

In connexion with small squares, we may consider the 
city graveyards ; and nothing can be more ill-considered 
than the mutilations that have in several cases been con- 
sidered necessary before making gardens of them. Every 
churchyard can be embellished, without uprooting bones, 
removing headstones, or anything of the kind. 

In the creation of tree-planted streets in the more 
crowded parts both of London proper and the suburbs, 
they should not as a rule be formed on the site of old 
and much frequented streets, but, so far as possible, pierced 
between them, leaving the largest and most populous thorough- 
fares of the present day to become the secondary ones of the 
future. As is pointed out in the chapter on trees suitable 
for cities, properly selected kinds grow perfectly well in all 
parts of London. Indeed I know of no city where I could 
find finer examples of old trees, chiefly in ancient private 
gardens and half-hidden squares, where they never received 
any attention after planting. The excellent system of plant- 
ing trees on every available spot practised to such a great 
extent in Paris, should be conamenced and carried out as far 
as possible in our cities. L/lt must be long before we can 
attempt anything like the magnificent boulevards of our neigh- 
bours, but let us insert the thin end of the wedge here and 
there, and perhaps some day we shall have streets to be proud 
of. In beginning, it is of the highest importance that we 
avoid as far as possible the meanness and narrowness charac- 
teristic of our style of making street, road, and footway. 



xxiv 



INTRODUCTION. 



even in places where want of room is not a drawback. If 
I am not misinformed^ the footway on the land side of the 
road that is to run alongside the Thames Embankment_, near 
the Houses of Parliament, is to be sixteen feet wide, and 
probably some of that will be taken up with the proposed 
line of trees. In this magnificent position, to which any 
in Paris is insignificant, we are to have a footway that 
would be considered half a dozen feet too narrow for a 
second-class boulevard or avenue in Paris ! 

"Whether our general scheme of city gardening be 
changed or not, we ma}^ carry it on with greater economy 
and much improvement by the adoption of a system re- 
sembling that of the public nurseries of Paris — as pointed 
out in the chapter on these. It is impossible to have 
greater need for economy than exists in this matter of public 
gardening; yet the public, in supplying its great London 
parks, does what hundreds of landed proprietors would be 
foolish to do, in buying its own evergreens and common 
nursery stuff! Our parks are already so vast that the 
sums required for planting must alone form a heavy item, 
nearly all of which could be saved by a judicious system of 
public nurseries. At present, too, there is growing up in 
each park a nursery of glass, an expensive affair — certain 
to annually increase in cost if a check be not applied. 
All this is really unnecessary. With a sensible reduction 
of our expensive system of bedding out, or even as matters 
are at present arranged, great saving might be effected by 
having all the tender plants for the park gardens raised in 
one establishment. If the true and great principle of 
variety — the advantages of which as applicable to public 
gardening are treated of at p. 28 — were adopted in earnest, 
this concentration of the expensive glass-house work would 
be all the more convenient and advantageous. 

Another great improvement might be effected by a rigid 
exclusion from the plantings of every subject that is not 
likely to thrive healthfully under the influences of London 
smut. Many specimens of fine evergreen trees and shrubs 
have been planted in our parks during the last few years, 
though the only fate that awaits them therein is a lingering 



INTRODUCTION. 



XXV 



death. When it is stated that each of these costs many times 
more than wonkl snflQce for the purchase of a score of de- 
ciduous trees which succeed perfectly in London, the neces- 
sity for watchfulness in this respect will be apparent. I am 
satisfied that by adopting these reforms we could annually 
save as much as would suffice for the creation of a small 
suburban park or fresh and charming public square or 
garden in some overpacked region of London, into which 
the children could venture without rendering themselves 
guilty of trespassing, or making a hazardous climb over a 
sharp-spiked railing, as they frequently do in our amusing 
if unlovely Leicester Square. 

We now come to practical matters relating to fruit cul- 
ture, market gardening, etc., in Paris and its environs. On 
these matters there have recently been prolonged discus- 
sions, but many readers and disputants have been misled by 
confounding the comparative state of horticulture in France 
and England with the real point at issue — i.e., the supe- 
riority of the French in certain special and most important 
branches of garden culture. I have never asserted, as has 
been assumed, that the French are our superiors in 
general horticulture, for I know right well that we are as 
far before them in horticulture, agriculture, and rural 
affairs generally, as we are in journalistic and magazine 
literature ; but I do assert that in certain points of fruit and 
vegetable culture they are equally as far in advance of us. 
I am convinced, too, that more than one of their modes of 
culture will prove of far greater value to ourselves than ever 
they have been to the French. To avoid these points, and 
utter commonplaces about our general superiority, is com- 
pletely to beg the question. Are we to ignore their good 
practices because we happen to be more luxurious in our 
gardening establishments than they are ? If I were to find 
in use in the backwoods of America some handy tool or 
implement efi'ective in saving human labour, should I be 
wise in refusing to adopt it because the rude inventor had 
not attained to the simplest luxuries of existence ? If we 
affirm that the honey of the bee is sweet, the statement that 
bees are not so beautiful as butterflies is no reply. I do 



xxvi 



INTRODUCTION. 



not wi'ite to praise the French^ but to point out in what 
way we may learn from them. That they, too, may learn 
from us will be apparent when I state that intelligent 
Frenchmen have pointed doubtfully at plants of Rhubarb 
and Seakale — two of our most excellent vegetable products — 
and asked if it were true that we eat them in England ! 
The general introduction into France of these two vegetables, 
with constitutions as vigorous as the most rampant weeds, 
and never failing to furnish abundant yields, would not 
merely be a gain to the gardens and markets of a great 
vegetable and fruit-eating people like the French, but a 
material addition to the true riches and food supplies of the 
country. 

Of the practices which we may with advantage, and 
which indeed we must adopt from the French — for the 
fittest win the day, no matter how long the struggle — those 
of fruit culture command our first attention, because good 
fruit culture combines the beautiful and the useful in a very 
high degree. 

There are at least six important ways in which we may 
highly improve and enrich our fruit gardens and fruit stores. 

First, by planting against walls, with a warm southern 
exposui'e and a white surface, the very finest kinds of 
winter Pears — the Pears that keep, the Pears that bring 
a return, the Pears that cost the consumer a shilling or 
more each in the London markets after Christmas — the 
Pears of which the French now send us thousands of pounds 
worth annually. By doing this we shall in less than 
ten years have a magnificent stock of these noble fruits 
all over the country, and be able to export the fruit we now 
import so largely. Varieties of winter Pears are frequently * 
planted in the open, in all parts of these islands, that an 
experienced fruit grower in the neighbourhood- of Paris or 
even further south would never plant away from a warm 
sunny wall, knowing well that it would be wasteful ignorance 
to do so. 

Secondly, by the general adoption of the cordon system 
of apple growing in gardens. This will enable us to produce 
a finer class of fruit than that grown in orchards. It may 



INTRODUCTION. 



xxvii 



be carried out in spots hitherto useless or uneraployed^ and 
will enable us to do away with the ugly Apple trees that 
now shade and occupy the surface of our gardens. The 
system will be found the greatest improvement our garden 
Apple culture has ever witnessed. It should be thoroughly 
understood, however^ that I do not recommend this system 
for orchard culture,, or for the production of the kinds and 
qualities of fruits that may be gathered profusely from 
naturally developed standard trees. 

Thirdly, by the general introduction of the true Prench 
Paradise stock into the gardens of the British Isles. Its 
merits are that it is dwarfer in growth than any other, and 
that in wet, cold soils it keeps its roots in a wig-like tuft 
near the surface — a most valuable quality on many of our 
cold, heavy soils. When well known it will be found an 
inestimable boon in every class of garden except those on 
very dry and poor soils, being wonderfully efficacious in 
inducing early fertility, and affording a better result without 
root pruning than either the Crab or English Paradise do 
with that attention. The knowledge that the Doucin of the 
French is an admirable stock for all forms of tree between 
the standard of the orchard and the very dwarf cordon or 
bush, will also be very useful. The Apple should not be 
worked on the Crab unless where it is desired to form 
large standard trees in orchards — by far the best method, if 
properly carried out, for market and general supplies. 

Fourthly, by the practice of the French method of close 
pruning and training the Peach tree, as described in Chapter 
XIX. The system adopted in this country is an entirely diffe- 
rent one — a loose, irregular style, the shoots not being suffi- 
ciently cut back. The Peach tree is quite as amenable to exact 
training as any other; and when the regular system of the 
French is understood among us, it will be adopted as the 
best for wall culture. Preference should also be given 
to some of the smaller forms of tree adopted by the 
French, as they will enable us to cover our vralls with fruit- 
ful handsome trees in a few seasons instead of waiting many 
years, as has hitherto been the case, and then perhaps never 
seeing them well covered. These forms are particularly 



xxvni 



INTRODUCTION. 



desirable where tlie soil is too light and poor for the health 
and full development of large wide-spreading trees. In the 
last edition of the book of our most popular English teacher of 
fruit culture are these words : — A wall covered with healthy- 
Peach or Nectarine trees of a good ripe age is rarely to be 
seen ; failing crops and blighted trees are the rule^ healthy 
and fertile trees the exception V We can alter this by the 
adoption of the compact cordon^ U or double U forms 
figured in this book, by a better system of pruning, and by 
thoroughly protecting the trees in spring. 

Fifthly, by adopting for every kind of fruit tree grown 
against walls a more efficient and simple mode of protection 
than we now use. In speaking of fruit culture, nothing is 
more common than to hear our climate spoken of as the 
cause of all our deficiencies — the fine climate of northern 
France being supposed to do everything for the cultivator. 
The value of this view of the case is well illustrated by the 
fact that all good practical fruit growers about Paris take 
care to protect their fruit walls in spring by means of wide 
temporary copings. In this country I have never anywhere 
seen a really efficient temporary coping, though endless time is 
wasted in placing on boughs, nets, &c., none of which are in 
the least efi'ective in protecting the trees from the cold 
sleety rains, which, if they do not destroy or enfeeble the 
fertilizing power of the blossoms, prepare them to become 
an easy prey to the frost. 

Sixthly, by the acquirement and difi'usion among every 
class of gardeners and even garden-labourers of a know- 
ledge of budding, grafting, pruning, and training equal 
to that now possessed by the French. Many of the illu- 
strations in this book show the mastery they possess over 
each detail of training — the branches of every kind of 
tree being conducted in any way the trainer may desire, 
and with the greatest ease. This knowledge is quite com- 
mon amongst small amateurs and workmen whose fellows 
in this country would not know where to put a knife in 
a tree. There are numerous professors who teach it in 
France ; it is not taught at aU or in the most imperfect 
manner in this country, where it is really of far greater 



V 



INTRODUCTION. XXIX 



importance. We require walls for our fruit trees more 
than the French do^ and there is no way in which we need 
improvement more than in the matter of the proper covering 
and development of wall trees. Yv ith standard trees^ pruning 
may be dispensed with to a great extent ; but so long as we 
are obliged to devote walls to the production of our finer 
fruits^ such knowledge as is now possessed by good French 
fruit growers must prove a great aid. With this knowledge, 
and the adoption of one of the two economical modes of wall- 
making described, aided by the general introduction of the 
mechanical aids to successful garden fruit cultui'e now 
becoming so general in France, and which I have described 
and figured at length, we might look forward to a vast 
improvement in our fruit gardens both as regards their 
beauty and utility. 

In the vegetable departmeutwe have also several important 
things to learn from the French, and not the least among these 
is the winter and spring culture of Salads — inasmuch as 
enormous quantities of these are sent from Paris to our 
markets during the spring months. During the last days 
of April, 1868, 1 saw fine specimens of the green Cos Lettuce 
of the Paris market gardeners selling at a high price in 
Nottingham, and doubtless it is the same in many of our 
o-reat cities and towns far removed from London. As I 
write this (April 19th) the market gardens near London are 
faintly traced with light green lines of weak young Lettuce 
plants, that have been for weeks barely existing under the 
influences of our harsh spring. Around Paris at the same 
season, in consequence of the adoption of the cloche and a 
careful system of culture, it is a pleasure to see the size and 
perfect health of the crops of Lettuces — the difference 
in culture, and not the imaginary difference in climate, 
solely producing the result. Some have remarked that 
we are not a Salad-eating race; but the fact that large 
quantities of Parisian Lettuces are imported every week and 
every day for many weeks in spring, proves that we are 
so in so far as we can afford it. If the restaurants 
and houses of all classes in Paris had to be supplied 
from another country, and at about four times the price 



XXX 



INTRODUCTION. 



they now pay_, tlie Parisians would nse even less than 
we do. 

For many years the London market gardeners, who have 
long seen these beautiful Lettuces selling at high prices in the 
markets — at as much as 9^. per dozen wholesale — have quietly 
concluded that they came from some Eden-like spot in the 
south of France, and have apparently never taken the 
trouble to see how they are produced. The truth is, that 
by the adoption of the French system they may be grown 
to fully as great perfection near London and in the home 
counties as near Paris. The fact that we have to be sup- 
plied by our neighbours with articles that could be so easily 
produced in this country is almost ridiculous. It is im- 
possible to exaggerate the importance of this culture for a 
nation of gardeners like the British; and if it were the 
only hint that we could take from the French cultivators 
with advantage, it would be well worth consideration. 

Enormous^^ was the term which was made use of by a 
Paris market gardener in describing to me the quantities 
of Lettuces sent from his garden, and the numbers of 
the traders who came in search of them. The French system 
will have the first difficulty to get over — that of people 
becoming used to it, and slightly changing their habits of 
culture to accommodate it ; but it must ere long be uni- 
versally adopted with us, and nothing can prevent a great 
benefit being reaped from it by the horticulturists of the 
United Kingdom. 

The French are also far before us in the culture and 
appreciation of Asparagus, pursuing a system quite op- 
posed to ours, and growing it so abundantly that for 
many weeks in spring it is an article of popular use 
with all classes. Some among us affect to ridicule French 
Asparagus in consequence of its being blanched nearly to 
the top of the shoot ; but they forget, or ignore the fact, 
that to remove this imperfection, if it be one, the grower 
has merely to save himself the trouble of causing it, and that 
he may adopt the superior mode of culture and root- 
treatment pursued by the French without blanching the 
stem if he desires it in a green state. Apart from this, their 



INTRODUCTION. 



xxxi 



experience of Frencli Asparagus is frequently limited to 
samples that may have been cut in France a fortnight 
before they reach the table in England^ having passed the 
intermediate time in travelling and losing quality in market 
or shop. 

Having treated of Parisian market gardening generally 
in a special chapter^ little need be said of it here except 
that the ground is often more than twice as dear as round 
London ; that in consequence of close rotation and deep 
and rich culture a great deal more is got off the ground in 
the small market gardens of Paris than is ever the case in 
our larger ones ; and that by reason of the general prac- 
tice of a thorough system of watering the markets are 
as well supplied during the hottest summer and autumn 
as if the climate were a perpetual moist and genial June,, 
whereas when we have an exceptionally warm summer 
supplies become scarce and dear almost immediately, as 
was the case during the past year. The whole system 
of culture of the Paris market gardens is interesting and 
suggestive in a high degree — especially to a people who 
take so much pleasure and spend so much money in their 
gardens as we do. There can be no doubt that the intro- 
duction of the same system of very close cropping and good 
culture would be a great public advantage near all our large 
cities, where ground is always scarce and dear. It would 
enable us to get at least double the quantity of vegetables 
off the same space of ground, and better still, tend to 
furnish dwellers in cities with something like the propor- 
tion of fresh vegetables that is necessary for health. Our 
working people do not at present use in a sufficient degree 
any vegetable except the universal Potato. I think I am 
well within the mark in stating that the poorer classes in 
Paris use three times as much of fresh vegetable food as 
the same classes in London. But improvements of our vege- 
table and fruit markets must precede all amelioration in this 
direction. 

Parisian Mushroom culture is interesting and curious in 
a degree of which till lately we have had no conception, 
as will be seen by a perusal of the chapter devoted to it. 



xxxii 



INTRODUCTION. 



The sketches and plan that illustrate it — obtained with 
some difficulty — are the tirst that have been published on 
the subject, so far as I am aware^ and will help the reader 
to obtain a fair idea of places that have been seen by very 
few English people^ and of which most Frenchmen have 
only a mysterious notion. The perusal of this chapter will 
doubtless suggest trials of the culture to owners of mines 
and cavernous burrowings of any kind ; and perhaps in time 
to come Mushrooms may be a readily obtainable commodity 
in our markets, even in winter and spring, when they are 
usually very high priced and dear with us. 

In conclusion_, I may allude to a subject that is familiar 
to those of my readers who peruse the horticultural pub- 
lications of the day — viz.^ the fierce attacks that have been 
made upon me for my advocacy of some of the practices 
herein described. These attacks have chiefly come from 
certain horticulturists who boast of having traversed France 
many times during the past thirty years^ and who^ naturally 
perhaps,, hold that a tyro/'' a " young traveller/'' &c. &c., 
who first visited France in 1867^ cannot possibly have seen 
anything good or instructive that has escaped their expe- 
rienced and sagacious eyes. The only reply I shall now or 
in future make to these gentlemen is in the form of a request 
to the horticultural public. Test such matters as interest 
you ; surrender not your judgment either to young or old — 
to the self-sufficient sage or the presumptuous student — but 
ascertain for yourselves who is right. 



THE 

PARKS, PROMENADES, 
&AEDE?fS OF PARIS. 



The city swims in verdure, beautiful 

As Venice on the waters, the sea-swan. 

^Tiat bosky gardens dropped in close-walled courts 

Like plums in ladies' laps, who start and laugh ! 

"What miles of streets that run on after trees, 

Still carrying all the necessary shops, 

Those open caskets with the jewels seen ! 

And trade is art, and art's philosophy, 

In Paris. Aurora Leigh. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE CHAMPS ELYSEES AND THE GARDENS OF THE LOUVRE 
AND THE TUILERIES. 

If not already the brightest^ airiest^ and most beautiful of 
all cities, Paris is in a fair -u ay to become so ; and the 
greatest part of her beauty is due to her gardens and her 
trees. A city of palaces indeed; but which is the most 
attractive — the view up that splendid avenue and garden 
stretching from the heart of the city to the Arc de Triomphe^ 
or that of the finest architectural features of Paris ? What 
would the new boulevards of white stone be without the 
softening and refreshing aid of those long lines of well- 
cared-for trees that everywhere rise around the buildings,, 
helping them somewhat as the grass does the buttercups ? 
The makers of new Paris — who deserve the thanks of the 
inhabitants of all the filthy cities of the world for setting 
such an example — answer these questions for us by pulling 
down close and filthy quarters^ where the influences of sweet 
air and green trees were never felt^ and the sun could 

B 



2 



THE CHAMPS ELYSEES. 



scarcely penetrate, and turning them into gems of bosky- 
verdure and sweetness ; by piercing tbem with long wide 
streets, flanked with lines of green trees ; and, in a word, by 
relieving in every possible direction mane's work in stone 
with the changeful and therefore everpleasing beauty of 
vegetable life. 

In Paris, public gardening assumes an importance which 
it does not possess with us ; it is not confined to parks in one 
end of the town, and absent from the places where it is most 
wanted. It follows the street builders with trees, turns the 
little squares into gardens unsurpassed for good taste and 
beauty, drops down graceful fountains here and there, and 
margins them with flowers; it presents to the eye of the 
poorest workman every charm of vegetation; it brings him 
pure air, and aims directly and efifectively at the recrea- 
tion and benefit of the people. The result is so good, that 
it is well worthy our attention. To understand and discuss 
it with advantage we cannot do better than commence in 
the Place de la Concorde, and afterwards walk up the Avenue 
des Champs Elysees, and into the gardens of the Louvre and 
the Tuileries — the chain of gardens about here forming a 
vast open space in the very heart of Paris. 

The Place de la Concorde is not a garden, but a noble 
open space, admirable from its breadth and boldness, a 
worthy centre to the fine streets and avenue that diverge 
from it, embellished by fine fountains and some statues, 
and with a terrible history. By looking to the east the 
Palace of the Tuileries may be seen through the opening 
made in the wood of chestnuts by the central walk, and 
to the west is the Avenue des Champs Elysees. If the reader 
who has not visited Paris will suppose a wide pleasure 
ground flanking the lower part of Regent-street, and 
having a grand tree-bordered avenue passing through its 
centre straight away to the highest point of the broad walk 
in the Hegent^s Park, and there crested by an immense 
triumphal arch — the largest in the world, 161 feet high and 
145 wide — he may be able to form some idea of what the 
scene is, immediately after passing from the Place de la 
Concorde. 



THE CHAMPS ELYSEES. 



8 



The Avenue des Champs Elysees leads from it straight 
to the Arc ; and what it is and how it is laid out we have 
next to see. First there is the road^ well macadamized^ 
slightly convex^ so level and easy for horses that those of 
London could never again find courage to grind down 
angular lumps of broken rock if they passed a few weeks 
in rolling over it_, and nearly 100 feet wide. There is a line 
of horse-chestnuts and other trees immediately within the 
footway that borders this on each side, and then more 
than fifty feet clear — for the greater part a gravelled 
walk_, but with a well-laid footway of asphalte about 
seven feet wide in the centre, which is most agreeable 
to walk upon at all times, and particularly in wet 
weather. Then come four rows of elm and chestnut 
trees, under them about fifty feet more of gravel walks — 
the other side of the central avenue being laid out in a 
similar manner. 

Then commences the garden, which is truly worthy of its 
position. Walking up the avenue on the left side we are 
in a wide and noble pleasure-ground, of which the farther- 
most parts that can be seen are backed by belts of shrubs 
and specimen trees. But what are these little structures one 
sees quite in front? Well, simply neat little sheds for 
gingerbread, cigars, and such commodities. To the British 
eye this kind of thing does not seem in what is called 
" keeping but if people will have their cigars and ginger- 
bread they may as well be sold to them where they are 
strolling or playing. Besides, you have in this case got 
the gingerbread-keepers under control, and they look as 
thoroughly subdued and dutiful as the sergent de ville, 
who is a model of gravity and dutifulness. Talk about the 
gaiety of the French ! Why, you never see one of these 
men smile, and yet they look thoroughly French. I once 
saw a London policeman, in sheer overflow of spirits, and 
probably slightly influenced by beer, throw his hat across 
the street after a cat, on a bright moonlight night, and 
then laugh at the fun of it ; but who ever saw so much 
hilarity or want of dignity as that in a Parisian policeman ? 
They^ however^ are a thoroughly efficient set of men — 

B 2 



4 



THE CHAMPS ELYSEES, 



earnest and alert in cluty_, and apparently with many shades 
more of self-respect than their London brethren. They keep 
the strictest order in these public gardens,, the whole of 
which are as open and unprotected by fencing as the beds 
on the lawn of a country seat. There are no railings 
higher than six inches ; and yet no flowers at Kew or the 
Crystal Palace are more valuable than these suffice to 
protect day and night. No doubt this results to some 
extent from the prompt measures of the grave policemen 
when occasions for their interference do occur. It is in- 
structive and amusing to reflect that some years ago^ 
when it was &st proposed to green the heart of Paris 
with such beautiful open gardens as this, most wise French 
people considered it a foolish idea, saying : " Squares, &c., 
are possible in London, but not in the midst of our rough 
excitable people V 

Most of the stems of the trees are covered with ivy ; the 
wide belts of varied shrubs are encircled with the choicest 
flowers ; the grass, ever-welcomest of carpets, spreads out 
widely here and there ; great clumps of Rhododendrons and 
trees shroud buildings, not completely to hide them, but to 
prevent them from staring forth nakedly in the midst of 
the quiet sweetness of the garden. These buildings are 
chiefly for concerts, cafes, &c., and presently we come to a 
restaurant very agreeably situated. The plan of having 
restaurants in like places might be extended to London 
with great advantage — in such places as Kew or any of our 
great parks or gardens. Some captious individuals may 
object to such places being turned into tea-gardens ; 
but tea-gardens must exist somewhere, and why not have 
them respectably conducted under control, and well 
arranged to meet the public wants ? By so doing you 
might prevent the people from resorting to musty, and 
perhaps not very elevating, eating and drinking-places, and 
perhaps take from the charms of the lower type of music- 
hall entertainments now not considered so edifying as 
popular. On first consideration, the introduction of com- 
fortable restaurants in a place like Kew might seem to 
interfere with the quietness, which is one of the best features 



THE CHAMPS ELYSEES. 



5 



of like places ; but it need not be so. There is no need for 
placing tbem in competition with tbe glass-bouses^ or along 
a main Tvalk_, or in any position where they may in the 
least interfere with the beauty and peace of the scene. 
They might be placed in isolated yet easily accessible spots, 
shrouded with trees and shrubs from the garden or park, 
yet commanding peeps of it here and there; they might 
have naturally disposed groups of low spreading trees near 
them, under which people could sit to dine, or take tea in 
the summer months ; they might have open-sided bowers 
with zinc roofs, the pillars supporting them being draped 
with Virginian creepers, flowering roses, and the like^ and 
the roofs also densely covered with them. They would have 
all the attractiveness of open trellis-work creeper-clad 
bowers, and be at the same time quite impervious to 
showers. 

As we proceed, fountains, weeping willows, and not less 
beautiful weeping Sophoras are seen, and so many isolated 
specimens of the noblest trees and plants, such as Welling- 
tonia, pampas grass, flne-foliaged plants, &c., that we must 
not mention them all ; but arriving at the Palace of Industry, 
we make a considerable detour to the left to see a garden 
devoted to music — the Concert of the Champs Elysees, con- 
ducted by Musard. I draw attention to this to show that 
it is possible to introduce amusements into our public 
gardens without originating anything like the Jardin Bullier 
or Cremorne. I know of no place more creditably con- 
ducted than this, and any of the many English who have 
spent a summer evening in it will be of the same opinion. 
It is as quiet and free from objectionable features as a 
flower-show in the Hegent^s Park, and very tastefully ar- 
ranged. In the centre a band-stand, around it a bed of 
flowers, then about ninety feet of gravel planted with circles 
of trees. Between each two of the outer line of horse- 
chestnuts there is a lamp-post with seven lights, standing in 
a mass of flowers. Between this and the enclosing fence 
there are belts of grass, trees, and of the choicest shrubs ; 
in one part a little lawn with its cedars and maiden-hair 
trees, bamboos, Irish yews, ivy-clad stems, and flower-beds ; 



6 



THE CHAMPS ELYSEES. 



in another spot a noble group of Indian-shot plants, witli 
bronzy, finely-formed leaves ; an equally telling one of the 
great edible Caladium springing from among mignonette; 
here a pampas grass, tbere a broad-leaved Acanthus, with a 
mass of the handsome Chinese rice-paper plant in the distance. 
In its design and management it is as different from the 
Cremorne type as could be desired. To compare it with 
the places where the stupid and ugly cancan is performed, 
and of which there are specimens near at hand, is quite out 
of the question. How the young men of France, so ready 

Fig. 1. 




Evening Concert in the Champs Eljsees. 



to detect the bete in others, can go night after night to see 
this performed, is beyond comprehension. I see no reason 
why we should not have places managed as is this evening 
concert-garden, even if it were only to counteract the G\il 
influences of the numerous places which cater simply 
for the lowest tastes. In any case this garden will repay 
a visit to those who take interest in these matters. 

It was only in 1860 that the garden of the Champs 
Elysees was laid out, and yet it looks an ancient affair, has 
many respectable specimens of conifers. Magnolias, &c.. 



THE CHAMPS ELYSEES. 



7 



numerous large and well-made banks and beds of Rhodo- 
dendrons^ AzaleaS;, bollies^, and the best shrubs and trees 
generally,, with abundant room for planting summer flowers, 
chiefly, however, as margins to the clumps of shrubs. The 
gardens end at the Rond Point, a circular open space, 
in which there are large beds for flowers, fountains, 
&c., disfigured, however, by the undulations which some 
poor little bits of grass are made to assume. Useless and 
unnatural diversification of the ground in some small spaces, 
and the lumping together of too many things in one mass, 
are the weak points in the gardening of Paris. Above this 
Rond Point, a very wide footway of about sixty feet, shaded 
by two rows of trees, divides the avenue from the houses 
which here approach its sides. Instead of following the 
avenue up towards the Arc side we stop at the Rond Point, 
glance at the masses of Hibiscus, Caladium, and Papyrus of 
the Nile which embellish it, and then descend the garden 
by the side of the Rue du Faubourg St. Honore. 

Here we presently meet with a circus, a neat little 



EiG. 2. 




Circus in the Gardens of the Champs Elysees. 



theatre, concert halls, &c., all dropped down in the quietest 
way amidst the choicest trees j_and flowers, and many veri- 



8 



THE CHAMPS ELYSEES. 



table permanently established Punch and Judy shows ! I 
hope this will shock no well regulated mind. They are 
not like fugitive exhibitions tolerated at the end of obscure 
streets branching off from the Strand or Oxford-street,, but 
have rights as well-established as those of the Opera. If 
we consider what a perennial source of amusement this 
Punch and Judy fun has been for children^ perhaps it 
deserves a place as well as other more fashionable amuse- 
ments. And then we have revolving circuses^ on which 
the children of the period take their choice to ride on 
elephant or steed, various kinds of juvenile amusements^ 
cafes, summer music halls, dahlia beds, fountains, Abys- 
sinian musas, and too many similar objects to enumerate. 
On fine days the wide tree-shaded walks are crowded with 
pedestrians ; all the little games are in full swing, and 
though it may seem a queer jumble to many, the whole 
thing is as orderly as could be wished. 

At the top of the long avenue, the great arch is sur- 
rounded by an immense circular Place, from which straight 
boulevards and avenues radiate in all directions. The 
guide-books advise the visitor to Paris to see the lamps lit 
at night in the Champs Elysees, but if he should want to 
see the finest eflPect of that kind, he must go to this arch 
on a dark night, and standing in the centre look at their 
eflPect in the long wide avenues, which fall from where he 
stands, and afterwards walk around 
its base to see them better still. The 
whole scene here is magnificent, and 
if Paris had nothing worth seeing but 
what may be seen from hence, it 
would well repay a visit to all persons 
interested in the improvements of 
towns and cities. 

The Place de FEtoile, with its sur- 
roundings, is precisely the reverse of 
our own efforts in like positions — its 

^ , ,^^T ^ breadth, dignitv, and airiness con- 

Avenues and boulevards ra- , -i • "i -,1^1 

diating fiom the Place de trastmg strikmgly With the narrow- 

I'Etoilo. mess, meanness, and closeness of the 



Fig. 3. 




GAEDEXS OE THE LOEYKE AND THE TUILERIES. 9 



Fig. 4. 



best attempts in our so very mucli larger and "busier 
London. 

The Gardens of the Louvre and the Tuileries. 

The Place du Carrousel, stretching between the Palaces of 
the Louyre and the Tuileries, is a large open payed square 
by no means attractiye, but at its eastern end it merges into 
the narroTver Place Xapoleon III., to which I wish more par- 
ticularly to direct attention. The Place is inclosed on three 
sides by the splendid buildings of the new Louyre, and is 
embellished with two little gardens surrounded by railings 
with gilt spears. The Place du Carrousel^ surrounded by 
Palaces, is perfectly bare and without ornament, except the 
triumphal arch that stands at 
the main entrance of the court 
of the Tuileries, but looking to- 
wards the LomTe the eye is in- 
stantly refreshed by these little 
gardens, yeritable oases in a wil- 
derness of paying stone. I know 
of no spot more capable of teach- 
ing some of the most yaluable les- 
sons in city-gardening than this. 
Yiewed externally from their 
immediate surroundings, or from 
the more distant Tuileries square, 
the gardens haye a yery pretty 
effect, and show at once the 
utility of such, not only for their own sakes, but also as an 
aid to architecture. On the one hand you haye a space 
as deyoid of yegetation as the desert — on the other, by 
the creation of the simplest types of garden, you relieye 
the sculptor^s work in stone and the changeless lines of the 
great buildings by the liying grace of yegetation, so as to 
make the scene of the most refreshing kind, and all by 
merely encroaching a little on the space that would other- 
wise be monopolized by paying stones. The gardens are 
yery small and most simple in plan, a circle of grass, a 
walk,, and a belt of hardy trees and shrubs around the 




L'Arc de Tiiompbe du Carrousel. 



10 GARDENS OF THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES. 



wLoIe^ and an edging of ivy. 



Fig. 




tlie gronnd- 



Ground plan of the small 
gardens in the Place 
Napoleon III. 



No gaudy colouring of 
no expensive temporary 
decoration with tender costly flowers, 
but everytMng as green and quiet as 
could be desired. There are four 
outlets always open, so that visitors 
can go in and view the little gardens 
!^^y v --^^ and the rich pavilions rising behind 

X y their small but sufficient foregrounds 

of verdure. 

Tt is quite common amongst land- 
scape gardeners and others to lay down 
as a sort of law, that when we make 
a garden very near to any kind of ornamental building it is 
above all things necessary to make it " associate^'' with them 
— to carry the lines of the building as much as possible into 
the garden, to make it as angular, and it may be, as brick- 
dusty as possible, like some recent examples with us ; but 
these gardens prove the fallacy of this reasoning as regards 
city gardens and open spaces. There are numbers of men 
professing taste in designing gardens who would never think 
of putting anything in this position, surrounded as it is, but 
some miserable prettinesses, expensive gewgaws in the way of 
trees in tubs, squirting water, vases, coloured broken gravels, 
&c. &c., things which in their opinion would harmonize 
with the work of the architect. But from the simplest 
materials the most satisfactory results may be obtained, as we 
see here ; and economical reasons also demand simplicity and 
permanence in all similar attempts. Ten times the amount 
might be spent on the space occupied, and perhaps with a 
far less satisfactory result, while there would of course be 
so much less force to expend on the ventilation and 
improvement of the many close and sunless quarters that 
still remain. The small patches of grass in these gardens 
are like that everywhere in Paris, deep and vividly green, 
and fresh at all seasons. They usually give it a top dressing 
of fine and thoroughly decomposed manure in April, but the 
secret is, dense and repeated waterings at all seasons when the 
natural rainfall does not serve to keep it as fresh as June leaves. 



GAEDZ^S or THE LOUVRE AXD THE TEILEIIIES. 11 

Passing throngL. tlie gi'eat court of the Louvre^ and out 
on the eastern side, we see tlie garden of the Louyre, -which 
is simply a rail- surrounded space,, laid out ^th the usual 
very green and well-kept grass, round-headed bushes of 
lilac, Itt edgings, evergreen shrubs here and there, flowers 
at all seasons, and the best, cheapest, prettiest, and most 
lasting edgings in use in any garden, made of cast-iron in 
imitation of bent sticks. ^luch of this garden was once 
covered with old buildings and streets — even the great 
square just spoken of was once packed with alleys ; but the 
recent improyements of Paris haye swept all those things 
away, and on eyery side the buildings stand as free as could 
be desired — unlike our London ones, some of which can 
hardly be discoyered, aad which when they have an enclosed 
space around them, it is merely a receptacle for dead cats, 
&c. Against the walls of the palace numerous seats are 
placed, and the gardens, though not large, offer a very 
agreeable retreat at aU seasons ; for even during the colder 
months the old men and inyalids improve the shining hours 
by gathering on the seats close under the great walls when 
the sun is out. 

The main featiu-e of the flower gardening here is a modi- 
fication of the mixed border system, pretty, and also capable 
of infinite change. It is a combination of circle, and mix- 
ture, and ribbon, quite unpractised with us. Along the 
middle of the borders we haye a nne of permanent and 
rather large-growing things — ^roses, dahlias, neat bushes of 
Althffia frutex, and small Persian lilacs. The lilacs might 
be thought to grow too gross for such a position, but by 
cutting them in to the heart as soon as they have done 
flowering the bedding plants start with them on equal 
terms, and the lilacs do not hurt them by pushing out again, 
and make neat round heads prepared to bloom weU again 
the following spring. Thus they haye along the centre of 
each border a line of green and pointed subjects, which 
always save it from oyer-colouring, and then underneath 
they lay on the tones as thick as need be. Around each bush 
or tall plant in these borders are placed rings of bedding 
plants — Fuchsia, Teronica, Heliotropum, Chrysanthemum 



12 GARDENS OF THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES. 



grandifloriim^ and fffiniculaceum^ the outer spaces be- 
tween the rings being filled Tvith plants of other sorts. 
Then follows a sti-aight line of Pelargoniums — scarlet, white^ 
and rose mixed plant for plant, and forming a yerv pretty 
line. Outside of that a band of Irish i^y, pegged close to 
the earth, and pinched two or three times a year ; and 
finally, on the walk side, an edging of the rustic irons else- 
where described. 

As soon as they get beyond the very primitive idea, that 
because one border is of a certain pattern the others ought 
to follow it, this will be found a really good plan, and it is 
worth attention with us ; by its means we may enjoy great 
variety in a border without any of the raggedness of the 
old mixed border system. Around most of the rose trees 
they place a small ring of gladioli — a good plan where the 
plant grows well. Any person with a knowledge of bedding 
plants may vary this plan ad infinitum, and produce a most 
happy result with it wherever borders have to be dealt with. 

Let us next go to the west end of the palaces to see the 
gardens of the Tuileries, which stretch from the western 

face of that palace to the 
Place de la Concorde, bounded 
on one side by the Rue de 
% Rivoli, on the other by the 
'J;. river. Being nearly in the 
centre of Paris these gardens 
: are as frequented as any. The 

; garden is very large, and laid 
\ out in the plain geometrical 
1 ■ ; style by Le Notre, with wide 
y ' straight walks, borders round 
grass plots dotted with little 
lilac bushes, and flowers below 
them. About one-fourth of it 
near the palace is cut off" for the 
Emperor^s private use, but this 
part is merely divided from the 

Statu, of Winter in the Tuileries P^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ 

Gardens. low railing, so that the view 



Fia. 6. 




GARDENS OF THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES. 13 



of the private garden is enjoyed by all. In it they 
simply plant good evergreens and plenty of deciduous 
flowering skrubs^ while the grass plots are belted by borders^ 
one of which runs right along under the palace windows with 
the usual round bushes of lilac ; but these borders are kept 
pretty gay all the year round. The private garden of the 
Emperor is quite open to the public when he is not at the 
Tuileries. It is well worth visiting should an opportunity 
occur, if only to see the way the ivy edgings are used. 
There are no beds, only borders — these touching the gravel 
walk_, and being edged with box. Then on the bright gravel 
itself, or apparently so, they lay down a beautiful dark 
green band of ivy, of course allowing in the laying down of 
the walk for the space thus occupied. The effect of the 
rich green band adds much to the beauty of the borders. 
The mode of making them is elsewhere described. The 
flowers are kept a good deal subdued, and some trouble is 
taken to develope the shrubs and stronger vegetation dis- 
tinctly and well. The effect is very good from the windows 
and the interior. Cannas are used to produce a very 
charming effect in mixed borders, and altogether this por- 
tion is tastefully and inexpensively planted. It is noticeable 
that hardy shrubs and trees predominate — I believe, by the 
Emperor^s wish — and that, instead of the usual crowding, 
care is taken to give even the commonest kinds room to 
grow and become respectable specimens. 

A very wide walk crosses the garden just outside the 
private division ; at about its centre are a large basin and 
fountain, from which another wide walk goes straight to- 
wards the Place de la Concorde, and by looking in that 
direction we see the whole length of the magnificent Avenue 
des Champs Elysees, terminated on the crest of the hill by 
the Arc de Triomphe. This walk cuts the garden into two 
portions chiefly planted with chestnuts and other forest 
trees, which have not been sufficiently thinned, but are 
allowed to run up very tall, and thus afford a high arched 
shade in summer, the ground being gravelled underneath, 
so that it is comfortable to walk or play upon. There is a 
slight narrow terrace on both sides, an orangery, the con- 



14 GARDENS OF THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES. 



tents of whicli are placed out in summer, an alley arclied 
over -witli lime trees by tlie side of the Rue de Bivoli, and 
at ttie western end there are terraces wliicli afford a capital 
view of tlie bright and busy scene around and the noble 
avenue towards the west. There is a great deal of sculp- 
ture, both copies of celebrated works and original ones, 
but as for fresh horticultural interest there is little or none 
to be seen ; and a passing glance is all the visitor need be- 
stow on the public part of the garden of the Tuileries, 
though it is only fair to add that its general effect is very 



Fia. 7. 




The Rhone and the Saone, by G. Coustou, in the Tuileries Gardens. 



good, and that it in all respects answers its purpose as a play 
and promenading ground and a " lung to the city. 

A few words must be devoted to those long lines of large 
orange trees in tubs — they are so very conspicuous that 
they force themselves upon our attention. There are many 
ignorant and hopeless ways of spending money in gardens, 
but few more so than this, — indeed it is one of the most fami- 
liar instances of unworthy outlay that is known. Consider 
for a moment the enormous expense incurred by those lines 
of finely-grown old orange trees in the gardens of the 
Tuileries, at Versailles, the Luxembourg, and in other gar- 



GARDENS OF THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES. 15 



Fig. 8. 



dens, public and private ! Every one of them has cost 
more to rear to a condition that is presentable than the 
education of a surgeon or barrister, and all in order to pro- 
duce a deep round tuft of not very healthy green leaves at 
the end of a black stem seven feet high or thereabouts. 
Costly tubs that rot periodically ; costly storing in large 
conservatories in winter ; costly 
carriage from the house to 
open garden, and from open gar- 
den to house, and all to no good 
purpose whatever. The foliage 
differs not at all, or in but a 
trifling degree, from evergreens 
common in our shrubberies ; 
the clipped head of green is far 
inferior to that afforded by the 
hardy and elegant spineless Eo- 
binia, the flowers are few or 
none, the whole thing is a relic 
of barbarism, and as such should 
be excluded from the tasteful 
and well- arranged garden. The 
kind of effect they produce is 
afforded in a far higher degree 
by perfectly hardy subjects. 

But an orange is an orange 
have a little grove of them ? 




Group in tlie Tuileries Gardens. 



and suppose we wish to 
Then make the grove at once, 
and, by planting them in an elegant conservatory, grow 
them ten times as well an.d ten times as cheaply as you can 
by this absurd process of carrying in and out, and never 
withal seeing them in good condition. What a potato is 
without tubers, an orange is minus flowers and fruit. By 
planting them in a conservatory you may enjoy all the 
beauty of leaves, flowers, and fruit — by carrying out of 
doors, hoping thereby to embellish what you only disfigure, 
you enjoy nothing but imperfectly healthy leaves. The 
conservatory must exist to hold them in any case, and one 
only big enough to contain, say half those in this garden, 
would, if planted with orange trees, afford the Parisians 



16 GARDENS OF THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES. 



more gratification by showing tliem what orange trees really 
are^ than all they have ever enjoyed through the vast sums 
that have been spent upon orange trees for several hundred 
years past. They were all very well in an age when exotics,, 
and above all such attractive exotics as the orange^ were 
rare, and when good glass-houses were unknown, and bad 
ones impossibly dear ; but now, when we have thousands of 
choice exotics grown in perfection everywhere around us, the 
present condition of these fine old trees should not be tole- 
rated. They should be planted out in a conservatory 
worthy of the city, or be done away with. 

There are, however, some circumstances in which the 
culture of plants in tubs for placing in the open air in 
summer may not only be tolerable, but desirable. At 
Geneva I once saw, opposite a restaurant, the finest specimen 
of the fragrant Pittosporum Tobira that I ever met with, 
and was informed it had been in a cellar all the winter. 
Such as the orange trees are, however, they have admirers, 
most of whom believe that they cannot be grown to such per- 
fection by the same method in England. This is not the 
case : the method pursued in northern France (which is 
described in another chapter) will succeed almost equally 
well in the south of England and Ireland. 

Let us wait a moment to look at these people feeding the 
birds, so much to their own amusement and also that of the 
lookers-on. It is a pretty sight, and seems to afford great 
pleasure to many people, and doubtless much more to the 
successful feeders. It is quite a little scene in the gardens 
every day, and on fine days it attracts numbers of people, 
though it is an every-day occurrence there. The Jardin des 
Tuileries is inhabited by a great number of the common 
ringdove, or " quesf ^ — those wild pigeons which in 
Britain and elsewhere, when in a wild state, fiash away from 
man like an arrow from the bow. In these and other 
gardens in Paris they seem perfectly at home, and perch at 
ease in the trees over the heads of the multitudes of children 
who play, and of people who walk on fine days. Their in- 
timacy does not extend further, except with their friends 
who come to feed them now and then. Here is an instance. 



GARDENS OF THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES. 17 

A man^ evidently a respectable mecliamCj comes to a 
certain spot^ near the private garden of tlie Emperor. 
Presently some of the pigeons fiy to tlieir friend. He is 
an old acquaintance^ and a bird alighting on his left arm gets 
a morsel of bread to begin with ; others follow. He has 
previously put a few crumbs of bread into his mouthy of 
which the birds are well aware,, and, arching their exqui- 
sitely graceful necks, they put their bills between his lips 
and take out a bit turn about. Perhaps one alights on his 
head, and he may accommodate two or three on his right 
arm. There are others perched on the railings near at 
hand, and they come in for their turn by-and-by. A dense 
ring of people stand a few yards off, looking on, especially 
if it be a fine day, but they must not frighten the birds, 
and this persistent feeder looks daggers at a small boy who 
allows an audible yell of delight to escape. Presently the 
sparrows gather round the feeder^s feet, and pick up any 
crumbs that may fall while he is transferring the bread 
from his pocket to his mouth. The sparrows, sagacious 
creatures, do not as a rule light upon the arm, and never 
even think of putting their heads in the mouth of the man, 
but flutter gently so as to poise themselves in one spot 
about fifteen inches or so from the hand of the feeder. 
He throws up bits among them, and they invariably catch 
them with slight devie.tion from their fluttering position, or 
at most with a little curl. Sometimes the sparrows pluckily 
alight on the hand, and root out crumbs held between 
the finger and thumb, but this only in the case of very 
old friends. 



c 



18 



CHAPTER IT. 

THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE AND THE BOIS DE VINCENNES. 

The Bois de Boulogne. 

This park illustrates how we improve by friction,, so to 
speak. Till 1852 tlie Eois was a forest ; but Napoleon III.^ 
in his admiration for English parks^ determined to add their 
charms to Paris^ or rather to improve upon them, and the 
Bois is one result. In concert with the municipality, the 
Emperor dug out the lakes, and made the waterfalls. As 
a combination of wild wood and noble pleasure garden, it is 
magnificent. The deer are placed in an enclosed space. 
The Bois is splendid too as regards size — containing more 
than 2000 acres, of which nearly half is wood, a quarter 
grass, one-eighth roads, and more than seventy acres 
water. Though with large expectations in other directions, 
the reader will hardly be prepared for the statement that 
the French beat us in parks. When first entered this may 
not be much liked, the numerous Scotch pines around one 
part of the water giving it a somewhat barren look, but a 
few miles^ walk through it soon dispels this idea. It has 
more than the beauty and finish of any London park in 
some spots, but, on the other hand, vast spreads of it are 
covered with a thick, small, and somewhat scrub-like wood, 
in which wild flowers grow abundantly, unlike the prim 
London parks. There are plenty of wild cowslips dotted 
over even the best kept parts of it in spring, while the 
planting on and near the islands is far superior to anything 
to be witnessed in our own parks. To see what the Bois de 
Boulogne really is, the visitor should keep to the left when 
he enters from Passy or the Arc de Triomphe, and go right 
to the end of the two pieces of ornamental water. Then, 
standing with his back to the water, he will notice an 



THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



19 



elevated spot, and by going to that spot he will enjoy one 
of the finest views he has ever seen in a public park — the 
water in one direction looking like an interminable inlet, 
beantifnlly fringed with green and trees, while in the other 
several charming views are opened up, showing the hilly 
suburban country towards Boulogne, St. Cloud, and that 
neighbourhood. Then, by turning to the right and returning 
to Paris by the west side of the water, he will have a pretty 

Fig. 9. 




One of the small lakes in the Bois de Boulogne. 



good idea of what a noble promenade, drive, and garden 
this is. 

It is in all respects worthy of its grand approaches, of 
the width and boldness of which those who have not seen 
Paris can have no conception. There is some bold rock- 
work attempted and well done about the artificial water; 
and very creditable pains are taken to make the vegetation 
along it diversified in character, so that at one place you 
meet conifers, at another rock shrubs, in another Magnolias, 
and so on ; without the eternal repetition of common things 
which one too often sees at home. At Longchamps, near 
the racecourse, which attracts half Paris to this part of the 
wood on fine Sundays, there is a large and ambitious cas- 

c 3 



20 



THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



cade. Above the spring or shoot of the cascade is an 
arch of rustic rocks, over which fall ivy and rock shrubs^ 
the whole being backed with a healthy rising plantation. 
Although made at great expense, this cascade cannot be 
pronounced a happy one ; to me it is less pleasing than the 
less pretentious ones at the head of the large lakes. 

The fault of the most frequented part of the Bois de 
Boulogne is that the banks which fall to the water are in 
some parts a little too suggestive of a railway embankment, 
and display but little of that indefiniteness of gradation and 

Fig. 10. 




Grand cascade in the Eois de Boulogne. 



outline which we find in the true examples of the real 
" English style of laying out grounds. But you do not 
notice this from the position above described, from whence 
indeed the scene is charming. The fault just hinted at is 
common to almost every example of this style to be seen 
about Paris ; and in most of their walks, mounds, and the 
turnings of their streams, you can detect a family likeness and 
a style of curvature which is certainly never exhibited by 
natui'c, so far as we are acquainted with her in these latitudes. 
But it is only justice to say that, taking the park as a whole_, 
it is far before our London ones in point of design. 



THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



21 



Apart from the perfect keeping of the whole_, the chief 
lesson to be learnt here by the English planter is the 
value of paying far greater attention than we at present do 
to artistic planting of choice hardy trees and shrnbs. The 
islands seen from the margin of the lakes are at all times 
beautiful^ in consequence of the presence of a varied collec- 
tion of the finest shrubs and trees tastefully disposed. They 
show at a glance the immense superiority of permanent 
embellishment over fleeting annual display. The planting of 
these islands was expensive at first, and required a good 

Fig. 11. 




Winter scene on the lake in the Bois de Boulogne. 



knowledge of trees and shrub s, besides a large amount of 
taste in the designer ; but it is so done that were the hand 
of man to be removed from them for half a century they 
would not sufi'er in the least. Nothing could be easier 
than to find examples of gardens quite as costly in the first 
instance, which, while involving a yearly expenditure, would 
be ruined by a yearns neglect. It is summer, and along the 
margins of these islands you see the fresh pyramids of 
the deciduous cypress starting from graceful surroundings of 
hardy bamboos and pampas grass, and far beyond a group 
of bright silvery Negundo in the midst of dark-green vegeta- 



THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



tion, with scores of tints and types of tree-form around. It 
is springs and tlie whole scene is animated by the cheerful 
flush of bloom of the many shrubs that burst into blossom 
with the strengthening sun^ and while the oaks are yet leaf-, 
less the large swollen flower-buds of the splendid deciduous 
Magnolias may be seen conspicuous at long distances through 
the other trees. In autumn the variety and richness of the 
tints of the foliage ofier a varied picture from week to week ; 
and in winter the many picturesque and graceful forms of 
the deciduous trees among the evergreen shrubs and pines 
off'er the observant eye as much interest as at any other 
season. 

Looking deeper than the immediate results, we may see 
how the adoption of the system of careful permanent plant- 
ing enables us to secure what I consider the most important 
point in the whole art of gardening — variety, and that of 
the noblest kind. Mr, Ruskin tells us that "change or 
variety is as much a necessity to the human heart in build- 
ings as in books; that there is no merit, though there is 
some occasional use, in monotony; and that we must no 
more expect to derive either pleasure or profit from an 
architecture whose ornaments are of one pattern, and whose 
piUars are of one proportion, than we should out of a uni- 
verse in which the clouds were all of one shape and the 
trees all of one size.'''' These words apply to public gardens 
with even greater force. In them we need not be tied by 
the formalism which comfort, convenience, and economy 
require the architect to bear in mind, no matter how widely 
he diverges from the commonplace in general design. In 
garden or in park there is practically no noticeable tie ; in 
buildings there are many. Vegetation varies every day in 
the year. In buildings more than on any other things 
unchangeableness is stamped. In the tree and plant world 
we deal with things by no means remotely allied to our- 
selves — their lives, from the unfolding bud to the tottering 
trunk, are as the lives of men. In the building we deal 
with things much less mutable, which have a beginning 
and ending like all others, but their changes are much less 
apparent to our narrow ^dsion. Therefore the opportunity 



THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



23 



for variety is beyond comparison greater in public or private 
gardening tban in tbe building art_, or indeed in any other 
art whatever. 

Without the garden,, Lord Bacon tells us^ "Buildings 
and pallaces are but grosse handy works : and a man shall 
ever see that when ages grow to civility and elegancie, men 
come to build stately sooner than to garden finely : as if 
gardening were the greater perfection.^'' As yet we are far 
from perfection as builders, and the garden holds still the 
relationship to the building art which is described by Bacon. 
Indeed, it is more backward ; for in a day when building 
has eloquent champions to put in some such pleas as that 
quoted, and, moreover, give us practical illustrations of 
their meaning, we can find no proof that any knowledge of 
the all-important necessity for variety exists in the minds 
of those who arrange or manage our gardens, public or 
private. And yet this unrecognised variety is the life and 
soul of high gardening. If people generally could see this 
clearly, it would lead to the greatest improvement our 
gardening has ever witnessed. Considering the variety of 
vegetation, soil, climate, and position which we can com- 
mand, it is impossible to doubt that our power to produce 
variety is unlimited. 

The necessity for it is great. What is the broadly 
marked bane of the public as well as private gardening of 
the present day? The want of variety. What is it that 
causes us to take little more interest in the ordinary 
display of '^'^ bedding out,"'^ fostered with so much care, 
than we do in the bricks that go to make up the face of a 
house ? Simply the want of that variety of beauty which 
a walk along a flowery lane or over a wild heath shows us 
may be afforded by even the indigenous vegetation of one 
spot in a northern and unfavourable clime. But in our 
parks we can, if we will, have an endless variety of form, 
from the fern to the grisly oak and Gothic pine — inex- 
haustible charms of colour and fragrance, from that of the 
little Alpine plant near the snows on the great chains of 
mountains, to the lilies of Japan and Siberia. And yet 
out of all these riches the fashion for a long time has been 



24 



THE BOTS DE BOULOGNE. 



to select a few kinds wliicli have the property of producing 
dense masses of their particular colours on the ground_, to 
the almost entire neglect of the nobler and hardier vegeta- 
tion. The expense of the present system is great^ and 
must be renewed annually^ while the gratification is of the 
poorest kind. To a person with no perception of the higher 
charms of vegetation the thing may prove interesting, and 
to the professional gardener it is often so ; but to anybody 
of taste and intelligence, busy in this world of beauty and 
interest, the result attained by the above method is almost 
a blank. There can be little doubt that numbers are, un- 
known to themselves, deterred from taking any interest in 
the garden ; in fact, it is a blank to them. They in conse- 
quence may talk or boast of having a " good display,''^ &c., 
but the satisfaction from that is very poor indeed, compared 
with the real enjoyment of a garden. 

The one thing we want to do to alter this is to break the 
chains of monotony with which we are at present bound, 
and show the world that the '^'^pui^est of humane pleasures" 
is for humanity, and not for a class, and a narrow one. 
Eyes everywhere among us are hungering after novelty and 
beauty ; but in our public gardens they look for it in vain as 
a rule, for the presence of a few things that they are already 
as familiar with as with the texture of a gravel walk, must 
tend to impress them with an opinion that our art is the most 
inane of all. In books they everywhere find variety, and 
some interest, if high merit is rare ; the same is the case in 
painting, in sculpture, in music, and indeed in all the arts ; 
but in that which should possess it more than any other, 
and is more capable of it than any other, there is as a rule 
none to be found. This is not merely the case with the 
flower-garden and its adjuncts ; it prevails in wood, grove, 
shrubbery, and in everything connected with the garden. 
What attempt is made in our parks and pleasure grounds to 
give an idea of the rich beauty of which our hardy trees are 
capable, although these places afford the fullest opportunity 
to do so ? How rare it is to see one-tenth of the floral 
beauty aff'orded by deciduous shrubs even suggested ! 
Hitherto our gardening has been marked by two schools — 



THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



25 



one in "wliich a few, or comparatively few, good things" are 
grown; the other^ the botanic garden school, in which 
every obtainable thing is grown, be it ugly or handsome. 
What we want for the ornamental public garden is the mean 
between these two ; we want the variety of the botanic 
garden without its scientific but very unnatural and ugly 
arrangement; we want its interest without its weediness 
and monotony. 

There is no way in which the deadening formalism of 
our gardens may be more effectually destroyed than by the 
system of naturally grouping hardy plants. It may afford the 
most pleasing results, and impress on others the amount of 
variety and loveliness to be obtained from many families now 
almost unused. To suggest in how many directions we may 
produce the most satisfactory effects, I have merely to give 
a few instances. Suppose that in a case where the chief 
labour and expense now go for an annual display, or what 
some might call an annual muddle, the system is given up 
for one in which all the taste and skill and expense go to 
the making of features that do not perish with the first 
frosts. Let us begin, then, with a carefully selected collec- 
tion of trees and shrubs distinguished for their fine foliage — 
by noble leaf beauty, selecting a quiet glade in which to 
develope it. I should by no means confine the scene to this 
type alone, as it would be desirable to show what the leaves 
were by contrast, and to vary it in other ways — with bright 
beds of flowers if you like. It would make a feature in 
itself attractive, and show many that it is not quite neces- 
sary to resort to things that require the climate of Hio 
before you find marked leaf beauty and character. It 
would teach, too, how valuable such things would prove for 
the mixed collection. Many kinds of leaf might be therein 
developed, from the great simple-leaved species of the 
rhubarb type to the divided ones of Lindley^s spiraea, and 
the taller Ailantus, Kolreuteria, Gymnocladus, &c. The 
fringes of such a group might well be lit up with beds of 
lilies, irises, or any showy flowers ; or better still, by hardy 
flowering shrubs. An irregularly but artistically planted 
group of this kind would prove an everlasting source of 



26 



THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



interest ; it might be improved and added to from time to 
time^ but the original expense would be nearly all. 

Pass by this rather sheltered nook^, and come to a gentle 
knoll in an open spot. Here we will make a group from 
that wonderful rosaceous family which does so much to 
beautify all northern and temperate climes. And what a 
glorious bouquet it might be made, with American and 
European hawthorn s_, double cherries^ plums_, almonds, pears^ 
double peaches, &c., need hardly be suggested. You would 
here have a marked family likeness prevailing in the groups^ 
quite unlike the monotony resulting from planting, say, five 
or six thousand plants of Rhododendron in one spot, as is 
the fashion with some ; for each tree would differ conside- 
rably from its neighbour in flower and fruit. Then, having 
arranged the groups in a picturesque and natural way, we 
might finish off with a new feature. It is the custom to 
margin our shrubberies and ornamental plantings with a 
rather well-marked line. Strong-growing things come near 
the edge as a rule, and many of the dwarfest and prettiest 
spring- fiowering shrubs are lost in the shade or crowding 
of more robust subjects. They are often overshadowed, 
often deprived of food, often injured by the rough digging 
which people usually think wholesome for the shrubbery. 
Now I should take the very best of these, and extend them 
as neat low groups, or isolated well-grown specimens^ not 
far from, and quite clear of the shade of, the medium-sized 
or low trees of the central groupings. The result would 
be that choice dwarf shrubs like Ononis fruticosus, Prunus 
triloba, the dwarf peach and almond, Spirsea prunifolia fl. pi., 
the double Chinese plum, and any others of the numerous 
fine dwarf shrubs that taste might select, would display a 
perfection to which they are usually strangers. It would 
be putting them as far in advance of their ordinary appear- 
ance, as the stove and greenhouse plants at our great flower 
shows are to the ordinary stock in a nursery or neglected 
private garden. It would teach people that there are many 
unnoticed little hardy plants which merely want growing in 
some o|)en spot to appear as beautiful as any admired New 
Holland plant. The system might be varied as much as 



THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



27 



the plants themselves^ while one garden or pleasure ground 
need no more resemble another than the clouds of to-morrow 
do those of to-day. 

In the rich alluvial soil in level spots, near water or in 
some open break in a wood_, we might have numbers of the 
fine herbaceous families of Northern Asia,, America, and 
Europe. These, if well selected, would furnish a type of 
vegetation now very rarely seen in this country, and flourish 
without the slightest attention after once being planted. 
In rocky mounds quite free from shade we might well 
display true Alpine vegetation, selecting dwarf shrubs and 
the many free-growing, hardy Alpines which flourish every- 
where. To turn from the somewhat natural arrangements, 
as the years rolled on, occasional plantings might be made to 
show in greatest abundance the subjects of greatest novelty 
or interest at the time of planting. In one select spot, for 
example, we might enjoy our plantation of Japanese ever- 
greens, many of them valuable in the ornamental garden; in 
another the Californian pines; in another a picturesque 
group of wild roses ; and so on without end. Were this the 
place to do any more than suggest what may be done in 
this way in the splendid positions offered by our public 
gardens and parks, I could mention scores of arrangements 
of equal interest and value to the above. If the principle 
of annually planting a portion of a great park or garden of 
this kind were adopted instead of giving all the same routine 
attention after the first laying out, I am certain it would 
prove the greatest improvement ever introduced into our 
system of gardening. The embellishment of the islands in 
the Bois de Boulogne is very successful, but it is merely 
one of many fine results that artistic planting would secure. 
Plantations as full of interest and beauty might be made in 
other portions, and the fact is the vegetable kingdom is so 
wide that, although the combination of plant knowledge and 
taste necessary to success might not often be found in the 
designer, the materials for any number of varied pictures 
in vegetation could never fail. 

The principle here advocated should not only be applied 
to the details of one garden, but on a greater scale, and 



2S 



THE EOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



with even more satisfactory results^ to all tlie gardens of any 
great city. 

Take a city witli half a dozen parks_, a score of squares^ 
and perhaps nnmerons avennes and open places where 
trees or flowers might be grown — take^ in fact, the public 
gardening of Paris or London at the present day. Now^ in 
the ordinary course of things^ several kinds of trees and 
plants^, or several dozen kinds^ will be found to do best in 
all these places, and under the usual management the same 
subjects will predominate in each. To the people who 
live in the neighbourhood of each the effect will be perhaps 
agreeable ; but it must become monotonous. To prevent 
people endeavouring to see any life or interest in vegeta- 
tion, the true way is to make a few things predominate 
everywhere. It is also a simple and easy way for the 
superintendents ; there is no " bother with it/^ but there is 
also little pleasure^ and little of that enthusiastic effort which 
is the highest of pleasures^ and one only enjoyed by those 
who work at things for their own sakes. Innumerable beds 
of Cannas and Pelargoniums are better than nothings no 
doubt^ but are bad where the opportunity for a higher kind of 
embellishment exists. For the credit and encouragement of 
our city gardening, it is necessary that we confine ourselves 
to the better kind of trees_, as many good kinds do not grow 
well in streets ; but when it comes to the parks and open 
gardens^, it is a very different matter. If each park and 
square in a city were arranged entirely different from every 
other,, the enjoyment of those in the immediate neighbour- 
hood of each would be none the less, while the gardening 
treasures of the town would be greater in proportion to the 
number of parks or squares. A walk in any direction 
would reveal new charms to those having the slightest 
sympathy with nature, and help to sow the seed of love for 
it, were the ground ever so barren. A walk to distant 
parks or squares would furnish an object to the many, who 
might be expected to take an interest in gardens under 
such management ; and objects for walks in towns and 
cities cannot be too numerous. 

One park might display minute floral interest in all its 



THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



29 



yariationsj witli tlie larger subjects only used as the neces- 
sary settings shelter^ and greenery. Another^ witli a good 
soil and favourable exposition, migbt be made to show the 
dignity and variety of the forest trees of northern and 
temperate Europe,, Asia, and America. One square might, 
like Berkeley- square in London, or the little squares in the 
Place Napoleon III. in Paris, be made very tasteful and 
effective from simple inexpensive materials — such as green 
grass, hardy shrubs, and trees. Another might display leaf- 
beauty so as to remind one of the vegetation of the South 
Sea Islands ; another, chiefly the dwarf prairie and hill 
flora of cold and temperate countries ; and so on — 
each class of vegetation to be considerately adapted to soil, 
conditions, and surroundings of the place as regards shelter, 
liability to foul vapours, position in relation to other gardens 
and avenues, and so on. In fact, this great principle of 
variety is capable of doing so much for public gardens, that it 
should be made compulsory on the heads of these establish- 
ments to make each as different from its brother as it 
possibly could be made. Carried out, then, as I have 
slightly indicated, both in the private and public place, 
gardening would be nearer to proving the ^' greatest re- 
freshment to the spirits of man''"' than it has ever been in 
any age. 

There is one feature in the Bois de Boulogne which 
cannot be too strongly condemned — the practice of laying 
down here and there on some of its freshest sweeps of 
sloping grass enormous beds containing one kind of flower 
only. In several instances, near the very creditable planta- 
tions on the islands and margins of the lake, may be seen 
hundreds of one kind of tender plant in a great unmeaning 
mass, just in the positions where the turf ought to have been 
left free for a little repose between the very successful per- 
manent plantations. This is done to secure a paltry un- 
natural and sensational effect, which spoils some of the 
prettiest spots. Let us hope that some winter^s day, when 
the great beds are empty, they may be neatly covered with 
green turf. 

The Bois being rather level, heavy rains used to lie a 



30 



THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 




THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE. 



31 



long time on tlie surface of the roacls^ &c., before being 
absorbed ; to have remedied tbis by means of sewers would 
have cost about 160^000/.^ so the plan was adopted of con- 
structing a number of tanks at intervals_, on an average^ of 
200 metres, and capable of containing from ten to twenty 
cubic metres of water each. These tanks are generally 
circular in form and crowned by a truncated cone — a form 
which of course requires less mason^s work than the rec- 
tangular, the latter being adopted only when large trees in- 
terfere with the plan. These tanks are shown in fig. 12. The 
rectangular cisterns measure from four to six metres in 
length, one to two metres in width, and two to three metres 
in depth; they are arched at the top, and, like the circular ones, 
provided with a trapped hole, which serves, first, to with- 
draw the centrings, and afterwards to clean out the cisterns 
if they become choked with refuse carried down by the 
water ; the floor is uncovered, and barbicans are left in the 
footwalls to aid the escape of the water. These cisterns 
are placed either under the footpaths or in side alleys, so as 
not to interfere with the grass or the flower beds. The 
water is conveyed to the cisterns by means of drain pipes 
4in. exterior diameter, the flrst joint being embedded in a 
mouthpiece of Portland cement, shown in the engraving. 
These mouthpieces are nearly 20in. in length ; they are cast 
in wooden moulds, and cost 2f. 90c. per metre. 

Not far from the lower lake, and at about the centre of 
the Bois, occurs the Pre Catalan — an enclosed space, occa- 
sionally the scene of fetes, having several refreshment rooms, 
an open-air theatre, and a peculiar feature in the form of 
a cow-house, containing about eighty milch cows. The 
milk is sold to those who frequent the place, especially to 
horsemen who ride out from Paris for exercise in the early 
morning, and call here on their way to have a draught of 
new milk. These features, however, are kept well in the 
background, and the lolace generally bears the appearance 
of an ornamental garden, well worthy of a few minutes^ 
inspection from any horticultural visitor who is traversing 
the Bois or on the fashionable drive, which is near at hand. 

Gardeners may be interested to learn that every year. 



32 



THE GARDEN OE ACCLIMATIZATION. 



on the SOtli day of August,, tlie fete of tlieir order is 
held here^ the patron saints being St. Fiacre and St. Rose. 
Here the gardeners of Paris and their friends assemble 
to the number of three or four thousand^ and amuse them- 
selves with dancings games^ and the usual accompaniments 
of a Parisian fete^ including fireworks^ of course. As a 
garden^ the Pre Catalan is distinguished by good specimens 
of standard Magnolias-, both the evergreen grandiflora and 
the deciduous kinds^ and large masses of flowers and fine- 
leaved plants. 

Apart from these^ which are well known and extensively 
employed elsewhere about Paris^ I noticed that fine aquatic, 
Thalia dealbata — usually grown in stoves in England — in 
robust condition in the midst of a shallow running stream^ 
the canna-like leaves large, handsome,, and 22 inches long 
by 12 broadj and the flower stems 7 and 8 feet high (17th 
September). It is one of the handsomest and most distinct 
of all aquatic plants, quite different from the normal type^ 
and should be much used with us. Erianthus Ravennas, 
an ornamental grass^ was in flower at the same date, and 
10 or 11 feet high. Lantana delicatissima was used as 
margining carpeting to some beds here. Simple and 
inconspicuous thing as it is, it is multiplied to the extent 
of from 12,000 to 20,000 every year, which may serve to 
give another idea of the way in which ornamental garden- 
ing is carried on by the mu- 
nicipality of Paris. 

Garden of Acclimatiza- 
tion in the Bois de Bou- 
logne. — This is a pretty 
garden and a most interest- 
ing place. In it you may 
study many things^ from the 
culture of the oyster to the 
numerous breeds of domes- 
tic fowls, from ostriches to 
the different plants used for 
bee feeding. There is here 
Ostriches in the Jardin d'Acclimatation. an interesting hybrid ass — a 



Fia. 13. 




THE GARDEN OF ACCLIMATIZATION. 



33 



Fig. 14. 



neat cross between tlie domestic and wild varieties, which 
proved useless for the carriage, and kicked it and the harness 
into smithereens'^ when yoked, in consequence of the virus, 
or what an Irishman would call the divilment" of the exotic 
parent predominating. I was not insensible to the claims of a 
Russian dog, with a coat like a superannuated door-mat ; I 
laughed at a duck which had a velvet-looking head remark- 
ably like a hunting-cap, and nearly as big, but with a body 
no larger than a debilitated blackbird ; and was amazed to see 
a Chinese dog having no hair except on the top of his head ; 
but we must let all such curiosities pass, and confine our- 
selves exclusively to vegetable life, now as always of great 
importance, since Man first regaled himself upon fruits and 
green-meat. 

Doubtless one of the first things that sagacious creature 
pitched upon was the grape — at least, the best varieties of 
grapes and the best varieties of men are supposed to have 
originated in much the same 
place. To-day the vine is more 
important than ever, and the 
garden here has a magnifi- 
cent collection of 2000 varie- 
ties ! This collection is the 
famous one formed in the 
gardens of the Luxembourg, 
and fortunately saved from 
destruction by M. Drouyn 
de Lhuys, acting upon the 
urgent request of a friend of 
horticulture. The vines were 
actually about to be thrown 
away when the recent muti- 
lation of the Luxembourg 
garden took place. So by 

authority they were ordered . , i. . 

., • • T Streamlet in tlie Jardin d'Acclimatation. 

to the gardens m tlie l>ois de 

Boulogne, where, let us hope, they will be well looked after, 
as it would be a great pity if a collection embracing, as far 
as could be gathered, nearly all the varieties cultivated in 




34 



THE GARDEN OF ACCLIMATIZATION. 



the world_, should be lost to horticulture and to science. I 
saw a man carrying manure on his back to the vines, and 
sat down and contemplated him going through the inte- 
resting task ; the basket (panier) was placed on a slightly ele- 
vated board supported by three sticks^ from which he could 
readily hook on to it when it was filled. I looked at him with 
respect and some sympathy^ just as we should at a living 
specimen of the Dodo or any other animal supposed to be 
extinct. It occurred to me at the time that the acclimati- 
zation of a handy useful species of wheelbarrow would not 



Fig. 15. 




Conservatory in the Jardin d'Acclimatation. 



be unworthy of the Society. However, it is only fair to add 
that this kind of basket would prove useful in town garden- 
ing, where soil has often to be taken through the house, 
also for carrying vegetables,, and for conveyance of manure 
between close rows of vines^ and like uses. 

Although the glass-houses in the garden afford but little 
interest; rockwork and the planting out of fine foliage plants 
tend to make the conservatory very pleasant and refreshing. 



PLATE XI, 




VIEW IN THE BOIS DE VINCENNES. 



THE BOIS DE VINCENNES. 



35 



The Lycopodium is used with charming effect to form a 
turf in the conservatory, and nothing can look better than 
the New Zealand flax_, and several palms and tree ferns, 
planted near the margin of a winding piece of water in that 
structure. Musa Ensete too looked nobly in the same 
position. Those who visit it during the winter, cannot fail 
to be much struck with the effect produced by beds cut in 
the rich green of Lycopodium denticulatum, and filled with 
Primulas, Cinerarias, and spring flowers generally. The 
whole floor of the house, walks excepted, was effectually 
covered by the Lycopodium, 

Fig. 16. 




Eestaurant in tlie Bois cle Vinceanes. 



The Bois de Vincennes. 

The west end of Paris has its Bois de Boulogne for drives, 
promenades, quiet walks, fetes, races, &c. ; it has, in fact, 
its Kensington-gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, and St. 
J ames^s Park, and more than all these in one ; but the east 
end is equally well off in having the extensive and noble 
Bois de Vincennes, which in some respects is quite equal 
to the Bois de Boulogne, and in one or two even superior. 

D 2 



36 



THE BOIS DE VINCENNES. 



It contains well designed sheets of water about forty 
acres in extent; a wide, open plain, about 755 acres, 
and of wbicb about 284 are devoted to a drill-ground ; 
between 700 and 800 acres of forest ; 110 of shrub- 
bery and select plantation; 110 of roads; — in all nearly 
1800 acres. The same care in keeping, the fine roads 
and walks, and the breadth of design, which are seen in the 
Bois de Boulogne, are also seen here, though this is entirely 
distinct from that as regards plan. But as there is no 
feature in it that we have not discussed or shall not discuss 
with more profit elsewhere, a detailed description of it is 
not given. Opening up the city by means of airy, open 
roads, little squares, &c,, is of far greater importance than 
the creation of vast domains outside a city, where people 
may enjoy a little fresh air once a week or so. 

It has quite a novel feature, in the fruit-garden of the city 
of Paris, recently formed. This is described at length in 
another chapter. 

The lake nearest to the fruit- garden and the Avenue 
Daumesnil entrance is beautifully disposed, and its margins 
and islands are well planted. To walk completely round it, 
starting from the neighbourhood of the fruit-garden and re- 
turning to the same position, will well repay the visitor; 
few public parks ofi'ering anything so refreshing and agree- 
able of a warm summer evening. 

A restaurant near one of the lakes illustrates admirably 
how like conveniences may be introduced into public parks 
without in the least rendering them objectionable. It com- 
mands excellent views of the park and water from the groups 
of trees by which it is hidden, and which perfectly prevent it 
from obtruding upon the quietness of the park. It would be 
well if like care were always taken to veil such structures. 
The restaurant figured on the preceding page is not quite so 
happily placed, but nevertheless forms a not objectionable 
feature in the park. 

The Bois de Vincennes contains also the city nursery 
for herbaceous plants, &c., alluded to in the chapter on 
the Public Nurseries. 

Cercis australis and Planera acuminata have been tried 



B0I5 VINCENNE3 




WATERING THE PARKS, 



37 



as bouleyard ti'ees in and near the Bois de Yineennes^ and 
promise well. The Planera^ it is lioped^ will replace the 
elm in places where that is destroyed by the Scolytus ; and 
the Cercis looked very fresh and well about the middle of 
September^ and at the end of the very trying season of 1868. 

A plantation of about seven acres of Wellingtonias was 
made here about three years ago^ and the plants are strong 
and good. Were it not for the ver blanc this would even 
now be a fine feature ; but unfortunately very few speci- 
mens remain uninjured by this most terrible of pests. Some 
of the trees had formed good specimens, and showed what a 
noble wood of Wellingtonias would have been seen here 
were it not for this grub. Hares are rather plentiful here^ 
and may be seen scampering over the open parts — quite an 
uncommon occurrence in a public park. 

To connect the Bois with the promenades in the neigh- 
bourhoodj the plains of Bercy and St. Mande^, lying between 
the old boundaries of the wood and the walls of the fortifica- 
tions of Paris^ were bought up^ so that the new promenade^ 
like the Bois de Boulogne^ now begins at the very gates of 
the city. The pieces of water in the Bois de Yincennes^ as 
well as the pipes by which the gardens are watered^ are sup- 
plied from the river Marne. Here^ as in other parks and 
gardens^ the hottest and most arid weather merely makes 
the grass and plants gi^eener and healthier_, in consequence 
of the admirable arrangements for watering both turf, trees^ 
and flowers. 

Watering the Parks. 

The climate of Paris being dryer than that of London, 
and the soil less conducive to the growth of grasses, the 
verdure maintained in the more ornamental parts of the 
Paris parks is naturally a source of some surprise to visi- 
tors. It is difficult to give the reader, who has not seen it 
himself, an idea of how perfectly the watering is done. 
The contrast between the parks and gardens of London 
and Paris is in this way by no means flattering to our way of 
managing them. It will be better to quote one of our jour- 
nals to represent our own side of the question. Y^e have re- 



38 



WATERING THE PARKS. 



peatedly called the attention of tlie authorities during the 
summer to the melancholy state into which the parks were 
falling. The mischief we desired to guard against is now 
done. The grass is of the colour of hay, and the little of 
it that remains is being so rapidly trodden down that in 
many parts what used to be greensward is now nothing 
better than hard road." So wrote the Pall Mall GazettCy one 
day last summer; and really, about the end of July and 
the beginning of August, nothing could look more unat- 
tractive than the London parks. These parks are supported 
at heavy public cost ; and it is a great mistake to let 
them be rendered as brown and uninviting as the desert 
by an exceptional drought, which of course will happen 
at the very season when the grounds ought to be in per- 
fect beauty and attractiveness. The French system of 
watering gardens, &c., is excellent^ or at least the generally 
adopted system; for at the Jardin des Plantes there are 
yet watering-pots made of thick copper, which are worthy 
of the days of Tubal Cain, but a disgrace to any more 
recent manufacturer, and a curse to the poor men who 
have to water with them. Generally Parisian lawns and 
gardens are watered every evening with the hose, and most 
effectively. It is so perfectly and thoroughly done, that 
they move trees in the middle of summer with impunity ; 
keep the grass in the driest and dustiest parts of Paris as 
green as an emerald, the softest and thirstiest of bedding 
plants in the healthiest state ; and as for the roads, the 
way they are watered cannot be surpassed. They are kept 
agreeably moist without being muddy, while firm and crisp 
as could be desired. Of course all this is effected in the 
first instance by having abundance of water laid on ; but 
that is not all. With us, even where we have the water 
laid on, we too often spend an immense amount of labour 
in distributing it. In Paris generally it is applied with vari- 
ous modifications of the hose, which pours a vigorous stream, 
divided and made coarse or fine either by turning a cock, 
by the finger, or even by the force of the water. 

This is the way they apply it to roads, the smaller bits of 
grass about the Louvre, and other places ; but when water- 



WATERING THE PARKS. 



39 



ing large spreads of grass in the parks the system is dif- 
ferent. One day in passing by the racecourse at Long- 
champs I saw it carried out in perfection. The space had 
become very much cut up by reviews and races; but in any 
case it is watered to keep it as green as possible in summer. 
At first sight it would appear a difficult thing to water a 
racecourse^ but two men were employed in doing it effec- 
tually. Eight across the whole open space from east to 
west stretched an enormous hose of metal^ but in joints of 
say about six feet each. The whole was rendered flexible 
by these portions being joined to each other by short strong 
bits of leathern hose, each metal joint or pipe being sup- 
ported upon two pairs of little wheels. Fig. 17 shows a 
section of the appa- 
ratus at work. By 
means of these the 
whole may be readily 
moved about without 
the slightest injury to - vv>^w>^>^N:iycjiMi 
the hose in any part. Section of perforated self-acting hose on wheels. 

At about a yard or so 

apart along this pipe jets of water came forth all in one 
direction, and at an angle of about 45 deg., and spread 
out so as to fully sprinkle the ground on one side ; and 
thus four feet or so of the breadth of the whole plain of 
Lougchamps was being watered from one hose. There were 
two of these hoses at work, one man attending to each of 
them ; the only at- 
tention required be- 



ing to pass from one 
end of the line to the 
other, and push for- 
ward the hose as each 




portion became Suffi- Hose on wheels with double row of perforations. 

ciently watered. The 

simplest thing of all is the way they make the perforations for 
the jets along the pipe. They are simply little longitudinal 
holes driven in the pipe with a bit of steel. They must be 
made across the pipe, or the water will not spread in the 




40 



WATERING THE PARKS, 



desired direction. The -wind causes the water to fall in 
the most divided form possi'ole. With an apparatus thirty 
metres long a man can easily water 1500 square metres 
per hour^ moving the hose three times. Of course the 
quantity of vrater depends on the force in the conduits and 
the length of the tubes. With a pressure of 22 metres and 
hose 320 metres long the quantity of water per metre and 
per minute is nearly two litres. The hydrants in the grass 
are placed about fifty metres apart^ and the wheels of the 
trucks are of wood^ in order not to cut the gi-ass. There 
are many modes of spreading water in use about Paris, 
but none of them half as good as this simple method. 
More than a mile of this kind of hose may be seen at work 
at one time and with hundreds of jets playing. 

The hose for watering the roads is arranged on wheels 
alsO; butj as it must be at all times under command when 
carriages pass by, it has only one rose or jet, which is di- 
rected by a man who moves about among the carriages with 
the greatest ease, and keeps his portion of the road in capital 
condition. Of course it is a much cheaper way than carry- 
ing the water about as we do, as then we must have horse 
and cart, wear and tear, and man also ; whereas, by having 
the water laid on, all the men have to do in watering is to 
attach the hose and commence immediately. In the same 
way as much work can be done in a garden in a day as with 
ten men by the ordinary mode ; so that in the end it is 
much cheaper to have the water laid on. There can be no 
doubt that to the efficient watering much of the success of 
the fine foliaged plants in Paris gardens is to be attributed. 

As a good system of watering is of the highest importance 
to cities and towns in every region of the earth a more de- 
tailed and technical account of the watering of Paris gardens 
may prove useful to some. The article first appeared in the 
Engineer, and refers chiefiy to the arrangements for the Bois 
de Boulogne, but the system is the same for all other places. 

The watering is performed chiefly by means of long hose 
with a copper branch, the latter being provided with a stop- 
cock, so that the delivery of the water may be arrested 
instantly, without ha^-ing to turn off at the plug. The hose 




1 



i 



WATERING THE PARKS. 



41 



is generally twelve metres long and 2in. in diameter; it is 
constructed either of leather^ vulcanized india-rubber or 
canvas; tbe first and second costing 
from 6s. to 6s. 8d. per yard^ and the 
last only lOd. or 11c?. The screw 
connecting pieces^ which are made of 
gun metal^ cost about 6s. The leather 
hose^ losing the oily matters from its 
pores, through the pressure of the 
water, soon becomes brittle, but it 
lasts on an average two years; the 
rubber is light and has no other fault 
but that of wearing out in twelve 
months, while the canvas hose soon 
cuts to pieces on the gravel. A sys- 
tem of mounting such tubes on small 
trucks so as to keep them from trail- 
ing on the ground, and consequently < 
making them lighter to handle and 
more durable, was tried for a long ^ 
time, but this has been superseded by 
a very simple and inexpensive inven- 
tion, that of tubes made of sheet iron, 
lined with lead and bitumen, and con- 
nected together by means of leather 
joint pieces, the whole being mounted 
on small wooden trucks. The cost of 
this apparatus complete, with the sin- 
gle exception of the branch, is only 
70f., or 5f. 20c. per metre, and it 
will last on the average four years, 
while the old hose on trucks costs 
127f., or nearly double. 

The cost of that now in use is 
made up as follows : — Eleven metres 
of iron tubes, 19f. 25c. ; leather junction pieces, 25f. 60c. ; 
ten trucks 20f. ; ligatures, of. 15c. ; total, 70f. The appa- 
ratus in use at the present moment in Paris consists of five 
tubes, each about 6ft. long, and a shorter one to which the 



42 



WATERING THE PARKS. 



brancli is attached, so that only five trucks are required ; 
the trucks also in practice consist of a piece of plain wood, 
a little more than a foot in length, the tube being bolted 

_ on to the upper 

side and the run- 
ners fixed to the 
lower. As regards 
the connexion of 
the joints, this is 
made sometimes 
with brass flanges, 
but a joint which 
answers equally 
well, and is much 
cheaper and lighter, 
i is that made with 
f copper wire ; for 
f the branch joint, 

t however, brass 

p 

^ flanges are always 
5 used, as the branch 
I itself is removed 
p and carried away 
^ when not in use, 
while the tubes are 
simply folded toge- 
ther, fastened with 
a piece of cord, and 
left in any conve- 
nient corner. 

It is found in 
practice that a man 
cannot manage an 
apparatus of this 
kind, which is more 
than about 40ft. 
long ; but for watering grass, in which case the hose is left 
stationary in one place for some time and then moved to 
another, several apparatus are, if necessary, screwed on to 




WATERING THE PARKS. 



43 



each other. The effects of these tubes or hose have been 
carefully studied. The following is a table of results with 
a twelve metre apparatus^ the inner diameter of the nozzle 
of the branch being 0*012 metres, or rather less than half 
an inch, and the branch itself being held at an angle of 
45 deg.: — 



Pressure at the 
surface. 


Quantity of water 
given per second. 


Extent of the 
jet. 


Quantity of water 
given when the 
branch is not on. 


Metres. 


Litres. 


Metres. 


Litres. 


8 


0-90 


10 


1-SO 


12 


1-25 


12 


2-40 


15 


1-40 


14 


2-75 


20 


1-60 


15 


3-10 


25 


1-80 


15 


3-40 


30 


i-9a 


15 


3 60 


35 


2-00 


16 


3-80 


46 


2 10 


16 


4-00 



These results, it is stated, are averages, for some appa- 
ratus give superior or different results, although all the 
conditions appear the same. Experience shows that with 
the same amount of pressure in the pipes the extent of the 
jet is enormously reduced by the lengthening of the hose. 
Of course the diameter of the nozzle of the branch depends 
on the pressure within the tubes, but it was thought neces- 
sary to have a uniform model, and 0*012 metres was adopted 
as distributing the water most advantageously with a pres- 
sure of eight to fifteen metres. An apparatus twelve metres 
long, with a branch one metre in length, and giving an 
average jet of twelve metres, is effective over a radius of 
twenty-five metres. The plugs or hydrants are placed at 
intervals of thirty metres on roads twenty metres wide, and 
forty metres apart in narrower roads, when they are all on 
one side of the road. 

Formerly all the roads in and about Paris were watered by 
means of carts which held one ton of water. It required 
twenty-four tons to water the Avenue de Tlmperatrice properly, 
the road round the lakes, and some few others. The whole of 
the roads in the Bois de Boulogne, as they now stand, would 
require ninety tons of water, which would cost, men, horses, 
and carts included, 13f. per ton, or 200,000f. (8000/.) for the 



44 



WATERING THE PARKS. 



six summer montlis. The new system of watering by hose 
costs for the whole of the Bois but 55_,000f., or little more 
than a quarter of the expense under the old system. In 
this estimate, however_, no account is taken either of the cost 
of the water itself or of the capital expended for its con- 
veyance. Finally,, it is remarked, as regards the Bois de 
Boulogne^ that the cost is, in fact, little more than that of 
the maintenance of the apparatus in repair, or about 250/. 
a year, the work being done by the body of men called 
cantonniers, who have little else to do during the summer 
months. 

A water cart drawn by one horse, in cases where the 
hydrants are 400 metres apaii;, will water 1300 metres an 
hour over a width of four and a half metres — that is to say, 
a cart will water about 6000 square metres, using in the 
operation three tons of water. But in the parks it was 
found that the cart should pass over every spot once in the 
hour, and this gives, with an average of seven hours^ effec- 
tive work, an expenditure of three and a half litres, or more 
than seven pints per day per square metre. The cost of 
labour, cart, and horse is given at about lOf. per day, so that 
the actual expense per ton and per square metre stands thus, 
g^=0'00165f. In calculating the cost of watering by 
means of hose and branch, the hydrants or plugs must 
necessarily be much more numerous, the intervals between 
them being in the case of watering by cart 400 metres, 
while in the case of the hose the intervals are on an 
average only thirty-five metres. The total length of the 
roads to be watered in the Bois de Boulogne is 53,000 
metres, and the number of hydrants 1500, whereas under 
the old system 132 would have suflQced, a difference of 
1880 hydrants, costing 4/. each, or 4s. a year for interest, 
and, in addition, 4s. for repairs, &c. The latter is con- 
tracted for at the following rate — namely, eight centimes 
per metre, or about three farthings a yard run of conduit, 
and 4s. per hydrant. 

A hundred and twenty men are required for watering 
the 540,000 square metres of road in the Bois ; in five 
hours a man waters 4500 metres of road thi'ee times over. 



WATERING THE PARKS. 



45 



besides watering the side paths once^ wliicTi the carts of 
course did not touch. The cost is given as follows : — 

Francs. 

Interest and Maintenance of hydrants . . . 13,800 
Cost and repair of hose, &G. ..... 6,200 

Wages of 120 men at half a day for six months . . 35,000 



Total 55,000 

The surface watered being, in round numbers, 600,000 
square metres, and the average number of days 180, the cost 
per square metre and per day is 

=000051, 
180 X 600,000 ' 

showing a great economy as compared with the expense of 
watering by cart. The hose and branch dispense (making 
allowance for interruptions caused by traffic and by moving 
the apparatus) a litre of water per second, or 18,000 litres in 
five hours ; the quantity is therefore about the same as that 
dispensed by cart, only it is effected in five instead of seven 
hours. Previous to the general adoption of the hose and 
branch, experiments were tried with small handcarts con- 
taining a quarter of a ton, and drawn by two men, but 
these were found to cost more than the old carts. 

Another method of keeping roads and pathways in order, 
namely, by the application of deliquescent salts, is inte- 
resting from its novelty. The salts used are chloride of 
magnesium or of calcium. The former salt does not exist 
in commerce, but large quantities have been obtained from 
the residue of the manufacture of carbonate of soda, at 
a cost of 15f. the 100 kilogrammes; it may, however, be 
produced for less than a third of that rate. The salt is 
well calcined (in order to make it lose as much of its water 
as possible), and then coarsely pulverized j it is sprinkled 
over the road by hand. The effects of this deliquescent 
salt, as compared with those of water, are not uniform ; in 
the case of roads with much traffic the salt is twice as dear 
as water, because of the necessity of constant renewal, but 
in side paths and roads with little traffic the salt was found 
far more economical. The use of deliquescent salts has this 



46 



WATERING THE PARKS. 



great advantage, namely, that it does not interfere in any 
way with the circulation, and maintains the pathways clear 
of dust or mud, while of course in places where there is no 
grass to be watei^d the whole of the cost of water-pipes and 
hydrants would be saved. 

The surface of grass which has to be watered with Seine 
water in the Bois de Boulogne is about 250 acres, and the 
quantity of water requii^ed to keep it in good condition 
averages ten litres, or more than two gallons, per square 
metre, every third day. To water this surface in the same 
manner as the roads would require more than a hundred 



Fig. 21. 





Hose allowed to play on tlie grass and shifted from time to time. 



hose working ten hours a day, and this would entail a very 
heavy cost. But as the grass does not require to be treated 
with the same regularity as the roads one system adopted is 
to place a branch on a stand at an angle of 45 deg., and 
allow it to play over the grass for a certain time, when it is 
removed to another spot : in this way one man can manage 
ten apparatus. 

The total amount of water taken from the Seine for the 
purposes of the Bois never exceeds 240 litres, or about 
fifty-four gallons, per second. The natural meadows by the 
side of the Seine form about 400 acres, but the soil here is 



WATERING THE PARKS. 



47 



alluvial^ and therefore irrigation is only necessary in very 
hot "weather^ whereas the soil upon which the artificial 
grass is planted is nearly all sand, and the greatest care is 
required to keep the tnrf in order. The total cost of the 
arrangements of conduits and pipes for the supply of water 
to the Bois and the avenues leading to it is given at 
l,520,000f., or 60,800/. ; the number of stop-cocks is 385, 
and of hydrants 1600; and the length of the conduit is 
66,200 metres. It results from these figures that the cost 
of the whole has amounted to 22f. 97c., or about 18s. 5d. 
per metre. 



4S 



CHAPTER III. 

THE PARC MONCEAU. 

This is on the irliole the most beautiful garden in Paris^ and 
well shows the characteristics of the system of horticultural 
decoration so energetically adopted in that city. It is not 
large^ but exceedingly well stored, and usually displays a vast 
wealth of handsome exotic plants in summer. In spring it 
is radiant with the sweet bloom of early-flowering shrubs 
and treesj every bed and bank being covered with pansies^ 
Alyssum_, Aubrietia^ and all the best known of the spring 
flowers^ while thrushes and blackbirds are whistling in the 
adjacent bushes^ as if they were miles in the country,, 
instead of only a few minutes' walk from the Rue du Fau- 
bourg St. Honore. This park was laid out so long ago as 
1778 for Philip Egalite as an " English garden/'' and passed 
through various changes^ till it at last fell into the hands of 
the Municipality of Paris, a very astute corporation, who 
have converted it into a charming garden^ and are not likely 
to part with it in a hurry. 

The system of planting adopted here as well as in the 
other gardens of the city is often striking, often beaatiful, 
and not unfrequently bad. It is striking when you see a 
number of that fine showy tree, Acer Negundo variegata, 
arranged in one great oval mass, silvery and bright; it is 
beautiful when you see some spots with single specimens 
and tasteful beds, every one differing from its neighbour ; 
and bad when you meet with about a thousand plants of 
one variety stretched around a collection of shrubs, or 
flopped down in one large mass, or when a number of plants 
too tender for the climate are put out for the summer 
months amidst those that grow with the greatest luxuriance. 
" The subtropical system will never do for England V say 



THE PARC 3I0:NCEAU. 



49 



some practical men. The triitli is_, that it requii'es to be 
done very carefully in Paris^and there is a great mistake made 
by putting ont a host of tender plants merely because they are 
exotics^ unless indeed you "vvish to contrast healthy beauty 
with ragged ugliness. In the Pare Monceau there is usually 
a group of Musa Ensete worth making a journey to see^ and 
masses of Wigandia, Canna^ and such Solanums as Warce- 
wiczii, that are worthy of association with it ; but I have 
also seen there beds of Begonias without a good leaf or a 
particle of beauty — scraggy stove plants,, with long crooked 
legs^ and a few tattered leaves at the top, and poor standard 
plants of the sweet-verbena at the same time. If it were 
an experimental ground, one would not mind, of course ; 
but this, in a garden where its omission would leave almost 
nothing to be desired, is too bad. In some respects this 
park is really unequalled, and therefore one regrets the more 
to see these blemishes, which let us hope will not be repeated. 

What first excites the admiration of the visitor used to 
the monotonous and highly-toned type of garden now seen 
so much with us is the variety, beauty of form, and refresh- 
ing verdure which characterize this garden — good qualities 
that are so often absent in too many of our own. The true 
garden is a scene which should be so delightfully varied in 
all its parts — so bright, so green, so freely adorned with the 
majesty of the tree, the beauty of the shrub, the noble lines 
of the fine-leaved plant, the minute beauty of the dwarfer 
plants of this world ; so perpetually interesting, with vegeta- 
tion that changes with the days and seasons, rather than 
puts the stamp of monotony on the scene for months ; and 
so stored with new or rare, neglected or forgotten, curious 
or interesting plants — that the simplest observer may feel 
that indefinable joy which lovers of nature derive from her 
charms amidst such scenes, but which few, except those 
of a high degree of sensitiveness and power of expres- 
sion, like Shelley, can give utterance to. It would be 
teaching him to use the words of Goethe — 

" To recognise and love 
His brothers in still grove, 
Or air or stream." 



E 



50 



THE PARC MONCEAU. 



If any good at all is to be done by means of flowers and gar- 
dens^ you must give men a living interest,, a lasting curiosity 
in tbem. and some other objects than those "v^hicli can be 
taken in by the eye in a moment. Numbers are occupied 
and delighted with gardening as it stands at present, but it 
can hardly be doubted that a system with something like an 
aim at true art would be sure to attract many more ; and it 
is patent that there are numbers even among the ed-ucated 
classes who take no interest whatever in the garden^ simpty 
because they can in few places find any real beauty or 
interest in it. To confine ourselves to a single phase of 
the subject, it is certain that if all interested in flower gar- 
dening had an opportunity of seeing the charming effects 
produced by judiciously intermingling fine-leaved plants 
with brilliant flowers, and of which there are such handsome 
examples in this park, there would be an immediate revolu- 
tion in our flower-gardening, and verdant grace and beauty of 
form would be introduced, and all the brilliancy of colour that 
could be desired might be seen at the same time. The beauty 
and finish of many of the finer beds here, are of the 
highest order, in consequence of the adoption of the prin- 
ciple of variety. Here is a bed of Erythrinas not yet in 
flower : but what aff'ords that brilliant and singular mass of 
colour beneath them, a display which makes the visitor 
pause when he comes near the bed ? Simply a mixture of 
the lighter varieties of Lobelia speciosa with variously 
coloured and brilliant Portulaccas. The beautiful sui-facings 
that may thus be made with annual, biennial, or ordinary 
bedding plants, from mignonette to Alternanthera, are 
infinite. At the risk of driving off the general reader we 
must now begin to use hard names, and go deeper into purely 
technical and horticultural matters, for we shall not else- 
where meet an opportunity of doing so with so much 
advantage. It is only fair to warn the reader that tliis is a 
purely horticultural chapter. 

The following are a few examples of these graceful mixtures 
seen in this garden during the past year : — A bed of Arundo 
Donax versicolor, springing from Lobelia speciosa ; a bed 
of Ficus elastica, the ground beneath perfectly hidden by 



THE PARC MONCEAU. 



51 



luxuriant mignonette ; Wigandia^ springing from the little 
silvery sea produced by the mixture of the blue and white 
varieties of Brachycome iberidifolia ; Caladium esculentum, 
from a rich surface of flowering Petunias ; glowing Hibiscus, 
from Gnaphalium; graceful dwarf Drac£enas_, from very 
dwarf Alternantheras ; Aralias, from Cuphea ; taller Dra- 
caenas, from a deep and richly-toned mass of Coleus Ver- 
schaff'eltii ; Erythrina, from a sweet low carpet of soft purple 
Lantana ; tall Solanums, on mats of that most finished little 
plant Nierembergia ; sea-green Bocconias_, from the dwarf 
dark-toned Oxalis corniculata var., and so on. Eeflect for 
a moment how consistent is all this with the best garden- 
ing, and the purest taste. Your bare earth is covered 
quickly wath these free-growing dwarfs j there is an imme- 
diate and a charming contrast between the dwarf-flowering 
and the fine-foliaged plants ; and should the last at any 
time put their heads too high for the more valuable things 
above, they can be cut in for a second bloom, as was the 
case with some Petunias here which had got a little too 
high for their slow-growing superiors. In the case of using 
foliage plants that are eventually to cover the bed com- 
pletely, annual plants may be sown, and they in many cases 
will pass out of bloom and may be cleared away just as the 
large leaves begin to cover the ground. Where this is not 
the case, but the larger plants are placed thin enough to 
always allow of the lower ones being seen, two or even 
more kinds of dwarf plants may be employed, so that the 
one may succeed the other, and that there may be a 
mingling of bloom. 

It may be thought that this kind of mixture would in- 
terfere with what is called the unity of effect that we 
attempt to attain in our flower-gardens. This need not be 
so by any means ; the system could be grandly used in the 
most formal of gardens laid out on the massing system pure 
and simple ; besides, are there not positions in every place 
where such arrangements could be made without inter- 
fering with what is sometimes called the "flower garden 
proper'^ ? Some may say we cannot grow the fine-leaved 
plants in England. But this is not so. The most beautiful 

E 2 



52 



THE PARC MOKCEAU. 



bed of those above enumerated was that composed of varie- 
gated Arundo and Lobelia — the former a plant that may be 
readily grown on good soils in Britain, and merely requiring 
the protection of a little ashes, refuse, or an old mat over 
the crown in winter, even in soils that are not particularly 
favourable, while the Lobelia is one of the many fragile and 
delicately pretty little plants that do perhaps best of all in 
England. The fact is, we can find numbers of plants 
among the hardy and free-growing kinds, which will enable 
us to enjoy all the desired variety and diversity, even if we 
cannot wisely venture to plant out Wigandias and coloured 
Drac^nas except in the more favoured districts of southern 
England and Ireland. 

One of the most useful and natural ways of diversifying 
and dignifying a garden, and one that we rarely or never 
take advantage of, is abundantly illustrated here, and as it 
is perhaps the most important lesson to be learnt in the 
garden, we will discuss it at some length. It simply con- 
sists in placing really distinct and handsome plants alone 
upon the grass, to break the monotony of clump margins 
and of everything else. They may be placed singly or in 
open groups, near the margins of a bold clump of shrubs 
or in the open grass ; and the system is applicable to all 
kinds of hardy, ornamental subjects, from trees downwards, 
though in our case the want is for the fine-leaved plants 
and the more distinct hardy subjects. Nothing, for in- 
stance, can look better than a well-developed tuft of the 
broad-leaved Acanthus latifolius, springing from the turf 
not far from the margin of the walk through a pleasure 
ground ; and the same is true of the Yuccas, Tritomas, and 

^ other things of like character and 

Fig. 22. . ° 

hardiness. We may make attractive 

groups of one family, as the hardiest 
Yuccas j or splendid groups of one 
species like the Pampas grass — not 
by any means repeating the indivi- 
dual, for there are about twenty va- 
Groups can cl single specimens ricties of this plant known on the 

of plants isolated on the ^ . . . ^ ^ tip 

grass. Continent, and irom these nali a 




THE PARC MOXCEAU. 



53 



dozen really distinct and charming kinds might be selected to 
form a group. The same applies to the Tritomas, which we 
usually manage to drill into straight lines : in an isolated 
group in a yerdant glade^ they are seen for the first time to 
best advantage ; and what might not be done with these and 
their like by making mixed groups, or letting each plant stand 
distinct upon the grass^ perfectly isolated in its beauty ! 

Let us again try to simply illustrate the idea. Take an 
important spot in a pleasure ground — a sweep of grass in 
face of a shrubbery^ and see what can be done with it by 
means of these isolated plants. If, instead of leaving it 
in the bald state in which it is often founds we try to place 
distinct things in an isolated way upon the grass, the 
margin of shrubbery will be quite softened^ and a new and 
charming feature added to the garden. 



Fig. 23. 




Statice latifolia. Pilieum Emodi. Ferula glauca. 
Fine herbaceous and other plants isolated on the grass. 

If one who knew many plants were arranging them on 
the ground, and had a large stock to select from, he might 
make no end of striking effects. In the case of the smaller 
things, as the Yucca and variegated Arundo, groups of 
four or five good plants should be used to form one mass, 
and everything should be perfectly distinct and isolated, so 
that a person could freely move about amongst the plants 
without touching them. In addition to such arrangements, 
two or three individuals of a species might be placed here 



54 



THE PARC MONCEAU. 




Portion of plan showing 
Yuccas, graceful dwarf 
pines, &c., irregularly 
isolated on the grass. 



and there upon the grass with the best effect. For example, 
there is at present in our nurseries (I once saw quantities 
of it preparing for game covert at 
Fig. 24. Mr. Standish's, of Bagshot) a great 

J apanese Polygonum, which has never 
as yet been used with much effect in 
the garden. If anybody will select 
some open grassy spot in a pleasure 
ground, or grassy glade near a wood 
— some spot considered unworthy of 
attention as regards ornamenting it — 
and plant a group of three plants of 
it, leaving fifteen feet or so between 
the stools, a distinct aspect of vege- 
tation will be the result. The plant is 
herbaceous, and will spring up every 
year to a height of from six feet to 
eight feet if planted well ; it has a 
graceful arching habit in the upper branches, and is covered 
with a profusion of small pale bunches of flowers in 
autumn. It is needless to multiply examples — the plan is 
capable of infinite variation, and on that account alone 
should be welcome to all true gardeners. The diagram with 
the names is far too formal, and merely given to more 
fully explain the system. The little plans show better the 
irregular way in which the plants ought to be disposed. 

The preceding part of this chapter was written in 1867 ; 
but as this park is so full of interest and instruction for all 
practically interested in the decoration of the flower-garden, 
the following description, written on the spot during the 
early part of last September, may be of some interest to the 
horticultural reader : — 

Entering the park from the Boulevard Malesherbes we 
pass along an avenue of plane trees that leads from the high 
and ornamental gates. The walk on each side is bordered 
with roses in lines of different colours — the front row well 
pegged down. They form long borders on each side, and 
are very ornamental in early summer. A carriage road 
leads through the park, so that it may be seen by those 



THE PARC MONCEAU. 



55 



who drive tlirougli — but imperfect!}^, as tlie more interesting 
objects are along the shady side and boundary walks. On 
each side of the central drives glimpses are caught of very 
diversified and graceful foliage and flowers^ but conspicuous 
on the margin is a great mass of Caladium^ with leaves three 
feet long and two and a half feet wide, springing from a 
groundwork of blue Lobelia. 

You can have no real beauty in an ornamental garden 
without the aid of full grown trees^ their majesty producing 
an effect which cannot be dispensed with. Here they 
approach the drive in groups, sometimes overshading plan- 
tations of dense shrubs, at others springing clean from 
the grass. In some places they are so crowded as to make 
one wish for a little breath, in others they disappear, and 
spreads of grass and dwarfer plants permit the eye to range. 
On one side of the route may be noticed a hardy bamboo 
with black polished stems, and rods ten, twelve, and fourteen 
feet high ; on the other, one with yellow stems of about the 
same height. An old specimen of the Abyssinian Musa is 
vigorously pushing up a massive flower shoot scarcely yet 
seen through the leaves, and in consequence they are by no 
means so ornamental as those of younger plants which 
devote all their energy to foliage. Tree ferns, and the 
curious and graceful Beaucarnea with the great swollen 
base, are seen here and there, the Beaucarnea apparently 
not a first-rate subject for placing in the open air. Next 
to the great Musa Ensete, the best Banana is the well-known 
edible Musa Cavendishii : it is in perfect health, emerging 
from a mass of Tradescantia zebrina ; the leaves twenty-four to 
thirty inches long, and not often lacerated. A great mass of 
the variegated Acer — several hundred trees — is margined 
with rose-coloured geraniums, and all the space between filled 
with Dahlias, Salvias, and the like : a good plan, inasmuch 
as it prevents a naked base. Groups of palms, single 
specimens of birch (as graceful as any exotic), and fine 
out-arching specimens of the hardy Polygonum Sieboldi 
form the most notable features of the central drive. Palms 
from regions comparatively temperate, like the dwarf fan 
palm of the south of Europe, the Palmetto of the Southern 



/ 



56 



THE PARC MONCEAU. 



United States^ the Seaforttia^ and some others^ bear tlie 
open air of snmmer mthont injury^ and add a very 
striking and valuable aid to the scene. From tbe cross- 
drive groups of YuccaSj rather thinly placed in masses of 
dwarf flowers and plants^ a large specimen of the Angelica 
tree in flower_, a mass of the Papyrus of the Nile^ and 
tall specimens of Colocasia odorata^ are the most conspicuous 
of the objects that approach the margin. 

Again_, commencing at the Boulevard Malesherbes en- 
trancC; and this time turning to the left^ we meet with 
masses of Musa rosacea,, Blechnum, Lomaria magellanica, 
the older specimens with stems two feet high ; Nicotiana 
wigandioides ; a tellings dark bronzy mass of Canna atro- 
nigi^icanSj with some of the larger leaves two feet long, and 
the stems nearly seven feet high ; groups of Latania plunged 
in the grass ; and large leaved Begonias dotted amongst dense 
masses of Tradescantia zebrina. These Begonias do not grow 
well enough to warrant their being put out in our latitudes 
except under the most favourable conditions. Next come 
masses of Hibiscus, rather sparing of their great red flowers ; 
numerous sj)ecimens of handsome plants isolated on the 
grass, from double scarlet Pomegranates to Thuja aurea 
and Clianthus Dampieri ; masses of india-rubber plants 
with groundwork of mignonette, of Wigandia macrophylla 
with groundwork of Coleus, of silvery Solanum marginatum 
with groundwork of dwarf herbaceous Aster, of Tuj^idanthus 
in carpet of Cuphea, and of variegated Arundo in one of 
German Aster. A mass of Caladium bataviense, with 
leaves three and a half feet long and dark stems, is very 
imposing. As a foliage plant, it is second to no other 
employed in Parisian gardens, though hitherto C. escu- 
lentum has generally been considered to be the best. Here 
there are large masses of both it and bataviense. Usually 
C. bataviense makes ^eaves larger than C. esculentum, and 
as a rule its leaves are the largest this year, but the 
biggest specimens of the year were of esculentum, of which 
the largest measured four feet seven inches long, bataviense 
reaching four feet one inch. C. esculentum best withstands 
the winds, the leaves of C. bataviense often getting broken 



PLATE XV. 




FINE-LEAVED PLANTS IN THE PARC MONCEAU. 

Caladium. Aralia. Phoenix. Musa Ensete. Yucca. 



THE PARC MONCEAU. 



57 



by them, so that many of the finer leaves made during the 
season were lost before September,, their great stumps 
showing how vigorous they had been. It is usually and 
from the same cause denuded of leaves about the base ; C. 
esculentum retaining them. The leaf-stalks of bataviense 
are of a dark hue, by which it is easily distinguished from 
esculentum with its pale green leaf-stalks. The stems of 
bataviense are al^o much larger than those of the escu- 
lentum, a few of those growing here being ten inches in 
diameter. 

Of the Ficuses grown here, the best is yet the old 
F. elastica ; but Chauvieri is also good, and Porteana has 
done well this season, though the Parisian summers are 
usually too cold for it ; its leaves were fifteen inches long. 
Yucca aloifolia is hardy here. A fine old plant of it, ten 
feet high, and with a considerable portion of the stem 
naked, was in perfect health. Every winter the stem is 
protected as far as the leaves, and the snow prevented 
from remaining on these. Melia Azederach is also hardy 
here — at least, it has stood out during the past winter; 
and as its large compound leaves would prove so useful in 
the flower-garden, it should be tried out in favourable 
parts of England. Andropogon formosum does well here, 
and a group of Dasylirions are plunged in the grass. The 
Erythrinas are a fine feature, the old E. crista-galli being 
considered the best on the whole ; but E. ruberrima is 
very fine from its hue of scarlet and crimson. Bocconia 
frutescens is five and a half feet high, with leaves two and 
a half feet long ; and an Encephalartos is fine as an isolated 
specimen. Agave americana is left in the garden during 
winter and protected, but with more trouble and cost than 
would be incurred by taking it indoors. A mode of train- 
ing various flowering climbers up the stems of trees is 
worthy of special notice. Clematises, honeysuckles, various 
kinds of ivy, everlasting peas, and many other kinds of 
climbing plants may be used in this way with good ef- 
fect. There is one plant grown here in quantity, which is 
rarely seen in England, but which should be in every 
English garden — Funkia subcordata, a dwarf, hardy 



58 



THE PARC MONCEAU. 



plant witli snowy white flowers sweeter than orange- 
blossom. 

Two large carriage drives, laid out so as to interfere 
as little as possible with the old plantations_, run through 
the park from one end to the other,, and form a continua- 
tion of the boulevards leading to it. These drives are 
closed by iron gates of a highly ornamental character. 
The area of the park is about twenty-two English acres, 
of which thirteen are in turf, and five planted with flowers, 
shrubs, and trees, the remainder being devoted to walks and 
the small and unhappy piece of water. The total cost of 
alteration was over 48,000/. The work was begun in the 
month of January, 1861, and finished in August of the 
same year. 



59 



CHAPTER lY. 

THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 

This is the boldest attempt at what is called the picturesque 
style that has been attempted either in Paris or London. 
It is hardly wise to attempt expensive and extraordinary 
works in places of this sort, at least till all the densely 
populous parts of a city are provided with open_, well-planted 
spaces. Thus in London it is a mistake to devote great 
expense to a few parks, and leave so many square miles of 
population without a green spot. Eut in this instance an 
unusual attempt was to some extent invited by the peculiar 
nature of the ground. The whole park may be described 
as a sort of diversified Primrose Hill with two or three 
'Speaks and valleys/"' and an immense pile of rock seen 
here and there. At its hollow or lower end there was a 
quarry, and this has been taken advantage of to produce a 
grand feature. They have cut all round three sides of this 
quarry, smoothed it down, leaving intact the great side of 
stone, and adding to it here and there masses of artificial 
rock. 

This forms a very wide and imposing cliff, 164 feet high, 
or thereabouts, in its highest parts, and from these you 
may gradually descend to its base by a rough stair, exceed- 
ingly well constructed, and winding in and out of the huge 
rocky face. At the base of the cliff, and widely spreading 
round it, there is a lake. This ponderous cliff has several 
wings, so to speak, and in one bay has been constructed a 
large stalactite cave, about sixty feet high from its floor to 
the ceiling, and wide and imposing in proportion. At its 
back part the light is let in through a wide opening, show- 
ing a gorge reminding one of some of those in the very tops 
of the Cumberland mountains, and down this trickles the 



60 



THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 



water into the cave^ ivy and suitable shrnbs being planted 
along its course above tbe roof of the cave. 

The effect is remarkably striking^ though it is hardly the 
kind of thing to be recommended for a public park. By 
all means let us leave the luxuries of gardening out of the 
question^ till we have provided the necessaries for the popu- 
lation of great towns^ and these are green lawns^ trees^ and 
wide open streets and ways^ with their necessary conse- 
quence, pure air. On one of the buttes, or great mounds 
here_, they have planted 500 or 600 deodars — forming it a 
hill of deodars in fact. This is a mistake,, for though Paris 
is not as foggy as Spitalfields, it is a great city, as may be 
seen from this park, and with many a vomiting chimney 
too^ so that the better plan would be to pay double atten- 
tion to deciduous trees, using only such evergreens as are 
certain to grow. In one wide nook, perfectly sheltered on 
the three coldest sides, M. Andre planted a collection of 
subjects mostly tender in the neighbourhood of Paris. 

Fi'om this park, the surroundings of which are by no 
means attractive, you can look over nearly all Paris. 
The approach to it from the central parts is shabby for 
Paris, and on the way some idea of what the city was 
before the splendid improvements of the past ten years may 
be caught ; but this approach, like most objectionable 
things there, is simply tolerated till more important ones are 
finished. Of the quick way in which they proceed with 
them, the reader can scarcely have a notion. I have 
seen acres of land removed to a depth of several yards 
without any fuss, and in a few weeks ; miles of trees planted 
in the course of a single week; old subui^bs blown up by 
hundreds of mines a day, and levelled into commanding 
terraces fit for princely mansions. One June day, bright, 
dry, and very warm, they were planting trees in this park, 
and large ones too — trees that required great machines to 
lift them — while they were marking the ground for fresh 
plantings. Do you plant after this date? I asked. Every 
day in the year ! Of the larger trees some seem not to 
take well, and doubtless in consequence of summer-planting, 
for which there seems little excuse. 



THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 



61 



Tlie entrance is not promising — a hard-looking porter^s 
lodge_, and a mass of badly-made rockwork face a mound_, 
and from the rockwork sj^rings an apparently quite un- 
necessary bridge. The rockwork is bad because^ although 
superior in general design to the masses of burnt bricks 
that sometimes pass for it with us_, it shows radical faults 
— presumption and unnaturalness. Instead of a true rock- 
work^ something like a very puny attempt at reproducing 
the more insignificant ribs of Monte Campione is the result 
of plastering over a heap of stones. A hole is left here 
and there in this mass from which may spring a small pine 
or an ivy, but the whole thing is incapable of being di- 
vested of its bald artificial character. One-fourth the 
quantity of natural blocks of stone^ visible through the 
breaks in a mass of evergreens^ would have been far better. 
By this means one could get the necessary elevation^ con- 
cealing the basis of the stones with evergreens and trailing 
plants^ and not sealing up the thing with cement in any 
part. The plastering of the joints merely makes the 
'^rocks'''' look truly artificial^, especially when it begins to 
drop out. 

Bold high green mounds meet us immediately after pass- 
ing under the ugly bridge at the entrance — here and there 
patched with very presentable shrubs — as is not rarely the 
case in Paris gardens. One girdle seems to bind both French 
and English^ however,, as regards the compact and formal 
outlines of these shrubberies and plantings. We know 
very well that in nature nothing of the kind ever occurs; 
that away from the wood strays the clump of low shrubs 
which do not seem to be gregarious like their pillared fellows 
of the forest ; that indeed anything like straitlacing is 
unseen. Why then should we draw a cordon of regularity 
and sameness round our shrubberies in the shape of a line 
of some showy flower^ making the whole thing change- 
less as possible ? What calls for this definiteness ? I 
know not unless it be that the mowing machine may have 
the less trouble in cutting the grass around. Imagine the 
British Museum or the Louvre arranged chiefly for the con- 
venience of the dusters ! The sooner everybody having the 



62 



THE PARC DES BUTTES CIIAUMONT. 



interests of gardening in mind proclaims that variety and 
not formality should be the aim of all high gardening, the 
better for the progress of the art. In their clumps the 
French seem as straitlaced as ourselves, but in the newer 
gardens they have adopted a system of dotting about single 
specimens of individual beauty, which is very successful in 
breaking up formalism, and is well worthy of imitation. 

The chief feature of the place, as previously indicated^ is 
the great cliff, and unhappily the chief feature of the rock 
is plaster. You can hardly approach it in any place with- 
out perceiving the seams of plaster giving out, and where 
this is not the case it is all palpably plastered. And why ? 
Perhaps the plasterer who made it could supply a reason; 
but, whether he can or not, the sooner plasterers are dis- 
pensed with as imitators of nature in her grandest workings 
the better. There never was in a garden such a chance 
of presenting walls of rock -plants almost as striking and inte- 
resting as those one meets with in the pass over the Simplon ; 
yet it is entirely lost. By leaving the chinks and filling 
them here and there with turf, by chopping back or leaving 
the face of the high rocks sloping in some places so that 
they would be well exposed to the rainfall, by trickling a 
little streamlet over the face of the cliffs here and there^ 
and by scattering a few packets of seeds over the face of the 
cliffs in spring, they would have given rise to an alpine 
vegetation of great beauty. The great long-leaved Saxi- 
frage of the Pyrenees might have spread forth its silvery 
rosettes here, so might its smaller relatives, its big brother 
of the Piedmontese valleys, and little Campanulas, Thymes^ 
Erinuses, Brooms, Stonecrops, Houseleeks of many kinds, 
with hundreds of the prettiest plants of northern and tem- 
perate climes might have been grown here. Now all is 
daubed over and plantless, save a bit of ivy and wiry 
grass in some few spots ; and the face of the high rocks is 
suggestive of little but suicide. 

One of the few attempts to cultivate alpine plants out 
of ]30ts that I have ever seen made in France is here, but 
it has been done on a mistaken principle. A tasteful and 
desirable practice in some of the newer gardens and parks 



THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 



68 



of Paris, is tliat of conducting a tiny streamlet irregularly 
tkrough tlie grass^ and bordering it with water and marsh 
plants ; here there are a few examples of it for the most 
part creditable. In one case, however, the streamlet in- 
stead of coming from any probable source of higher rock or 
brushwood, starts out of a plastered hole in the grass, in a 
way one cannot admire. By the side of this and a neigh- 
bouring streamlet alpine plants are placed, to grow here 
and there in little beds along the stream, and indeed now 
and then on a plastered spot in the middle. They are 
associated with such lowland marsh plants as the loose- 
strife ; and in one instance a willow had started up and 
shaded some choice dwarf Saxifrages and Rhododendrons. 
It is creditable to attempt the cultivation of these plants 
here, but alpine plants can never be grown thus. If they 
could, it would be difficult to enjoy their native beauty or their 
tiny character alternated with such things as the bullrush 
and the flag ! With the supply of water that these parks 
command, nothing could be easier than the creation of a 
rocky mound healthfully covered with true alpine plants. 
However, as no English landscape gardener has yet pre- 
sented us with a rockwork well covered with its proper 
ornaments, instead of merely ivy, Virginian creeper, &c., it 
would be captious to find fault with the French for failing 
in a branch which requires so much taste and knowledge of 
plants. Not a few of the minor masses of rock — and there 
are many of them — are in better taste ; and being less pon- 
derous, they will some day no doubt display the plant life with- 
out which a rockwork is a poor affair. A piece of very bad 
taste is shown in bringing a cafe right to the edge of the 
walk commanding one of the best views of the rocks and 
water. Restaurants and refreshment places are wanted, 
but they should not be thrust in face of the most impor- 
tant spots. People should never go to such places for 
the sake of the cafe, however interesting it might be as an 
accessory. There are unobtrusive and readily accessible 
positions where they may be situated. 

One feature deserves denunciation — the glaring way in 
which the walks are exposed. There can hardly be two 



64 



THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 



opinions about tlie desirability of concealing the walks of a 
naturally disposed garden as much as may be convenient. 
A marked feature in many new French gardens is the way 
they are exposed. In the plans of the best French landscape- 



FiG. 25. 




Plan of garden, showing how fond the French hindscape-gardeners are of 
describing sections of eggs while laying out their walks. 

gardeners it is quite ridiculous to see the way the walks 
wind about in symmetrical twirlings, and, when they have 
entwined themselves through every sweep of turf in the 
place, seem to long for more spaces to writhe about in. 
Most glaring instances of this are seen here, and parti- 
cularly on the top, the highest rock, where a small temple 
is seated. 

Near one of the entrances, here is a mixture of Indigo- 
fera Dosua and the holly-leaved Mahonia, the first pre- 
dominating and full of flower in summer, having the 
delicate beauty and profusion of flowers characteristic of 



THE PARC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 



65 



New Holland; and greenhouse plants : it is wortliy of 
being extensively used witli us, and Indigofera floribunda 
should be everywhere used as a flower-garden wall plant. 
There is not much in the summer decoration of the place 
that is worthy of note. Some kinds of Cannas in flower 
look almost as showy as beds of Gladioli, but their real 
value will always be greatest as fine-leaved ornaments. 
The common artichoke was very eff'ective in one spot as 
an isolated specimen of a " foliage plant/^ nothing 
being finer than the nobly formed silvery leaves of this 
plant. Indeed, there is nothing to surpass it among sub- 
jects suited for single specimens on the green grass. A 
well- developed example would be sufiicient in a private 
garden ; and if nobody else plants it, schools of art would 
find it to their advantage to have a specimen of it some- 
where near at hand. 

The Pare des Buttes Chaumont was made on the site of 
old and abandoned plaster quarries. It forms a curvilinear 
triangle, having an area of nearly forty-five acres included 
between the Eue de Crimee and two boulevards ranning 
between Belleville and Puebla. Before the park was made, 
the ground, which was divided by the Chemin de Fer de 
Ceinture and the Rue Fessard, was an arid wilderness of 
clay mounds and of excavations left by the quarrymen, 
many of which were so deep as to form miniature pre- 
cipices. It was proposed to turn this waste into a public 
promenade by taking advantage of the natural irregularities 
of the ground, by forming paths, laying turf, and making a 
piece of water. To obtain this result, the natural hollows of 
the ground in the part nearest to Paris were deepened, paths 
leading to the top of the hills and mounds were laid down, 
the general surface was made more regular and covered 
with garden earth and flower-beds, and plantations were 
formed where necessary. The improvements made were of 
an important character only as far as it was necessary 
to bring the boundary of the park into harmony with the 
Boulevard de Ceinture, which runs through a trench nearly 
sixty feet deep. The other portion of the park, in which 
are situated the cutting through which the Chemin de Fer de 

F 



66 



THE PARC DES BXJTTES CHAUMONT. 



Ceinture passes, and tlie old plaster quarries,, whicli now 
forms the most picturesque part, necessitated works of a 
mucli more considerable cost. 

The line of rocks, which in some places are much over 100 
feet in perpendicular height, was luckily terminated by a 
craggy promontory looking down into the old excavations. 
This promontory was separated from the general mass in 
such a way as to form an isolated rock rising out of the lake 
which surrounded it on all sides. The lake is supplied by 
two rivulets which run through the two valleys of the 
park. One of them flows out of the lower wall of the 
upper boulevard, and falls down into a large cavern forming 
a cascade over 100 feet in height. The wall and grotto 
were formed to support the neighbouring land towards 
Belleville which was gradually falling into the excavations 
left in the quarries. The marly soil which lies above the 
gypsum in a layer of forty-eight feet thick, the slightly sloping 
surface of which was gradually crumbling away under the 
action of the air, has been dug out so as to allow the slopes 
to sustain the mould forming the plantations. At the 
highest point of the promontory, however, where it was 
necessary to have a bold mass of rock hanging over the 
water, an embankment of masonry built in imitation of the 
rocks at the base has been found necessary to support the 
crumbling soil. A suspension bridge more than 200 feet 
long thrown over the lake and the path surrounding it 
joins this portion of the park to the other, and obviates the 
necessity of a long walk round. A large number of carriage 
roads twenty-two feet wide, the inclines rarely reaching 
6 in 100, allow carriages to drive all over the park in spite 
of the great difference of level existing in various parts. 

The paths, whose inclination seldom exceeds 10 in 100, 
but which are sometimes cut into steps, afford foot-passengers 
the means of making short cuts between the carriage-drives 
in order to reach the heights of the park more expeditiously. 
Four bridges have been built over some of the deeper hollows, 
also a wire bridge has been thrown across the railway, a 
stone bridge, forty feet in span and sixty feet high, above 
a road and a small arm of the lake, the suspension bridge 



THE PAUC DES BUTTES CHAUMONT. 



67 



already mentioned, and a skew bridge fifty-six feet in span, 
made of iron resting on stone piers. 

The park being surrounded by large roads is enclosed 
with, an open iron railing, so that the "vdew is never ob- 
structed. Besides this, wherever it has been possible, the 
garden has been so arranged as to be looked down upon 
from the boulevards above. The boulevard itself is supported 
by a wall forming a terrace over one part of the park, upon 
which it looks down almost perpendicularly over an escarp- 
ment 120 feet high. The water which supplies the cascades 
and the pipes by which the garden is watered is pumped by 
a special engine belonging to the Canal de TOurcq into a 
reservoir situated at the side of the upper boulevard which 
surrounds the park. As for the end of the park nearest to 
Paris, it is, on the contrary, much higher than the boule- 
vards. It has therefore been laid out in such a way as not 
to interfere with the panorama of Paris seen above the tops 
of the houses which will be built in the intervening 
thoroughfares. The works, which were commenced early in 
1864, are now finished. The cost of the bridges, roads, and 
gardens amounted to something near, 1 20,000/. The archi- 
tectural work, including a first-class and two second-class 
restaurants, one double and eight single park-keeper^s lodges, 
a rotunda, and the surrounding railing, will amount to 
nearly 20,000/., making the entire cost close upon 140,000/. 



r2 



68 



CHAPTER V. 



THE JARDIN DES PLANTES AND THE GARDENS OF THE 
LUXEMBOURG. 

We hare nothing in tlie British. Isles like the Jardin des 
Plant es. It is half zoological^ half botanical^ and nearly 
surrounded by nansenms containing vast zoological^ bo- 
tanicalj and mineralogical collections. The portion entirely 
devoted to botany is laid out in the straight^ regular style^ 

while the part 
in which are 
the numerous 
buildings for 
the wild ani- 
malsjhas wind- 
ing walks^ and 
some trifling 
diversity here 
and there. The 
place is really 
an important 
school of sci- 
encCj and as 

Conservatories and Museums in the Jardin des Plantes. SUch it is great 

and useful. In 

addition to able lecturers on botany^ culture^ and allied 
matters_, there are^ I belie ve^, a dozen on various other scien- 
tific subjects^ some of these gentlemen being among the 
ablest and most famous naturalists in Europe. Here Buffon^ 
Cuvder, J ussieu_, and other great men have worked ; and 
here at the present day, even in minor departments, are 
many men of well known ability. 

Although the J ardin des Plantes is quite inferior in point 




THE JARDIN DES PL ANTES. 



69 



Fig. 27. 




Aquatic birds in the Jardin des 
Plantes. 



of beauty to any of our large British botanic gardens, it con- 
tains some features wbich might be introduced to them with, 
the greatest advantage. Its 
chief merits are that its plants 
are better named than in any 
British garden ; it possesses 
several arrangements which 
enable the student to see con- 
veniently, and most correctly, 
all obtainable useful plants 
infinitely better than in any 
British botanic garden ; and it 
displays very fully the vegeta- 
tion of temperate and northern 
climes, and consequently, that 
in which we are the most 
interested, and which is the 
most important for us. Its 
chief faults are that it has a 

bad position in an out-of-the-way part of the town ; the 
greater part of its sm'face is covered with plants scien- 
tifically disposed ; the houses 
are poor and badly arranged 
compared to those in our own 
good botanic gardens; and 
there is no green turf to be 
seen in its open and impor- 
tant parts. It has, in addi- 
tion, a very bad atmosphere 
for pines and evergreens, and 
there is a ridiculous kind of 
maze on the top of an other- 
wise not objectionable mound. 
Half way up this elevation 
stands a tolerably good Cedar 
of Lebanon, the first ever 
planted in France. It was planted by Jussieu, to whom 
it was given by the English botanist CoUinson. Beyond 
this there is not much tree-beauty in the Jardin des 



Fig. 28. 




Animals in the Jardin des Plantes. 



70 



THE JARDIN DES PLANTES. 



Plantes. There are fine collections of palms and other 
subjects of mucli importance for a botanic garden^ and tlie 

bonse collections are on the 
Trbole good^ but the plants 
in a great many cases are very 
diminutive and poorly deve- 
loped; therefore we will pass 
tbem by. 

There is one admirable 
feature which must not be 
forgotten,, and that is the 
fine collection of pear 
trees. M. Cappe has had 
charge of this section for 
about thirty- five years^ and 
is now a very old man^ but 
still he attends to his trees^ 
and has them in fine condi- 
tion^ though contending with 
much difficulty^ because the 
space upon which the trees 
stand is really not enough for one-half the number^ and 
thus he is obliged to keep lines of little trees between and 
under big ones^ and so on. There are few things in the 
horticultural way about Paris better wo?th notice than this 
collection of pears. 

Remarking that they have a graceful way of comme- 
morating great naturalists by naming after them the streets 
in the immediate neighbourhood of the garden^ I will 
pass on to the more important feature of the garden ; that 
is, its very extensive and well named collection of hardy 
plants. The only species of Pelargonium that ventures 
into Europe (P. Endlicherianum) is grown here, and it is 
quite hardy. The first of the principal arrangements of 
hardy herbaceous plants, &c., is a curious and distinct one. 
It is simply two large and wide spaces planted with 
masses of ornamental species ; and looks pretty well, 
though far from being arranged in a way to develope fully 
the beauty of its contents. Edgings composed of the several 




THE JARDIN DES PLANTES. 



71 



Tarieties of Iris pumila look well in early springs and 
many plants are used for edging wMcli we are not accus- 
tomed to see so employed in England. Thus the good 
double Yariety of Lychnis Yiscaria has been very pretty as 




an edgings and so has the neat^ bright^ and pure white 
Silene alpestris — an alpine plant not half so popular as it 
ought to be^ though I observe that some seedsmen, while 
not offering it^ sell a pretty fair proportion of the weeds 



72 



THE JARDIN DES PLANTES. 



that belong to tlie genus. Then there is a large space de- 
voted to plants used for the decoration of the parterre^ all 
or chiefly tender plants or annuals. This is not so suc- 
cessful or useful as some of the other arrangements^ though 
it displays numbers of popular ornamental subjects. 

Let us pass on to a large division devoted to the culture 
of plants used as food^ and in commerce. It is at once 
successful^ useful^ and complete. The chief varieties of all 
garden crops^ from Eadishes to Kidney Beans^ are to be 
seen ; the various species of Khubarb^ all important varie- 
ties of Lettuce — in a word_, everything that the learner 
could desii-e to see in this ^ay. It is not merely the plan 
of the thing that is sensible and good^ but its carrying out. 
The annuals are regularly raised and put out ; the ground 
is kept perfectly clean^ and it is^ in fact^ the best place I 
have ever seen in vhich to become acquainted vith useful 
plants. Such arrangements well carried out_, and cut off by 
judicious planting from the general verdure and chief area 
of any of our great public gardens, Tvould be of the 
greatest service. The ground is thrown into beds about 
six feet wide, and each kind is allotted six feet run of the 
bed. The sweet potato is grown here, as indeed are all 
interesting plants that may be grown in the open aii\ 

Below this arrangement, and near the river end of the 
garden, is another very interesting division. It is chiefly 
devoted to medicinal and useful plants of all kinds, aiTanged 
in a distinct way. Fii^st we have the Sorghums, ^Millets, 
Wheats, and Cereals generally — all plants cultivated for 
theu' grains or seeds. Then come plants cultivated for 
their stems, from Polymnia edulis to Ullucus tuber osus. 
Next we have the chief species and varieties of Onion, such 
plants as Urtica utilis, the Dalmatian Pyi^ethrum rigidum, 
and in a word almost everything likely to interest in this 
way, from Lactuca perennis to the esculent Hibiscus. 
Here again the plants are well named and kept clear and 
distinct, each having full room to develope, the general 
space devoted to the subject being sufficiently large ; and 
the practice of giving each plant a certain portion of the 
whole breadth of each bed to itself is better than the more 



THE JAKDIX DES PLAXTES 



73 



crowded arrangements adopted in onr Britisli "botanic gar- 
dens. All these divisions we have just passed through 
corer an ohlong expanse of ground^ the effect of which is 
of course anything but beautiful from an ornamental point 
of riew j but yet, in consequence of the gimmd being well 
keptj each subject grown well and vigor ously^ and all the 
squares bordered with roses and summer flowering plants^ 
the effect is better than might be expected. This great 
oblong space is bordered on each side by double rows of 
lime trees planted by Buffon. Between these are wide 
walks, agreeably shady on hot days. 

The second great oblong space to the north is entirely 
devoted to the school of botany, and this is simply a large 
portion of ground planted on the natural system, remark- 
able for the correctness of its nomenclature and the rich- 
ness of its collection. Here again everything is well taken 
care of and kept distinct ; the aquatics are furnished with 
cemented troaghs, in which they do quite luxuriantly, 
one of the singular and handsome Sacred Beans (Xelum- 
bium speciosum), and Limnocharis Humboldtii being well 
grown in the open air. The whole is most satisfactory, 
with one exception — that they place out the greenhouse 
and stove plants in smnmer to complete the natural orders. 
These poor plants are stored pell-mell in winter in a great 
orangery, from which they are taken out in early summer 
literally more dead than alive. They make a few leaves 
during the summer, and are again put into their den to 
sicken or die. The medicinal and other plants for special 
uses are indicated by variously coloured labels. 

Among many handsome hardy plants which I met with here, 
and which are deservincj of beino; more lar^^elv c^rown with 
us, are Hibiscus militaris, Crambe juncea, Verbascum vernale, 
Heracleum latisectum. Yucca lutescens, flexilis, Treculeana, 
angustifoha and stricta (all hardy), Spireea decumbens. Iris 
nudicaulis. Antirrhinum rupestre, Merendera Bulbocodium, 
Colchicum montanum, Magydaris panacina. Sorghum hala- 
pense, Panicum bulbosum, altissimum, and virgatum, Epi- 
lobium sericeum, GundeHa Tournefortii, Dahlia arborea, 
imperialis, and Decaisneana (out only during the summer of 



74 



THE JARDIN DES PLANTES. 



course) J Datura fastuosa alba-duplex^ Pyrethrum Tcliihat 
chewii^ of the south of Europe — a capital plant for covering 
the dryest of banks with dark green ; it is very low in 
habit,, produces white flowers in springs and for banks 
and other positions so dry and arid that grass or anything 
else fails to grow upon them^ it will probably prove highly 
useful. Anemone alba^Ficaria calthoefolia^ Echinophora tenui- 
folia^ a graceful umbelliferous plant with hoary leaves j Gly- 
ceria Michauxii^ a pretty grass ; and a collection of the genus 
Asparagus, among which one^ A. Broussonetii^ is remarkable 
for its great vigour and rapidity of growth — it quickly 
runs up with dense vigour to a height of ten feet in springs 
its foliage is glossy and dense^ and it might be used with 
success as a covering for bowers or to make pyramids in a 
highly diversified garden of hardy plants^ and of course it 
would be valuable in such a place as the subtropical 
garden at Battersea Park. Asparagus tenuifolius is as 
graceful and elegant as the one before-named is vigorous 
and rampant in its climbing power. 

Iris Monnieri, of Western Asia^ is a really fine^ bright 
yellow kind. Among the larger Compositse are some likely 
to prove useful for the subtropical garden ; notably Bha- 
ponticum scariosum^ and cynarioides. Serratula pinnatifida 
is elegant in leaf; and particularly fine is a silvery-leaved 
Tanacetum (T. elegans); with finely divided and elegant 
frond-like leaves. Dipsacus laciniatus is fine in its line 
when well grown^ and it will prove really well worth raising 
annually^ somewhat like the Castor-oil plants, for the 
garden where distinction is desired. Sideritis syriaca is 
hardy here, and fairly tried might make a useful edging 
plant in the way of Gnaphalium lanatum, than which it is 
a shade more silveiy. Phlomis herba-venti is a pretty 
and distinct herbaceous plant, medium- sized, and Eremo- 
stachys iberica is a yellow species, well worthy of associa- 
tion with laciniata. Acantholimon venustum is prettier 
and more elegant than the admired A. glumaceum, the 
dwarf cushion of leaves being of a glaucous tone, and the 
large rose-coloured flowers being well thrown out on bold 
graceful stems ; it is one of the prettiest dwarf plants I 



THE JARDIN DES PLANTES. 



75 



have ever seen^ and for a well made and tasteful rockwork it 
■will prove one of the best summer ornaments. Geranium 
platypetalum is very good here^ and one of the best of the 
family. Erodium carvifolium is so elegantly cut that I 
shoidd not hesitate to place it beside Thalictrum minus, 
from which it is, of course, quite distinct in character. 

There is a capital collection of the very neat Semper- 
^dvum family, planted in the open air, where they do re- 
markably well. Seseli gummiferum is a pretty umbelliferous 
plant, of a peculiarly distinct and pleasing glaucous hue. 
Thapsia ^illosa is also fine, and so is Aralia edulis. Yicia 
tenuifolia formosa is a very handsome climber ; and Orobus 
rosea is one of the most elegant and pretty of its family, 
having arching and drooping shoots, and being well suited 
for a large rockwork. There are many others in various 
departments, but as the subject is not of interest to a very 
wide class, it must not be enlarged upon further. 

For the information of curators of botanic gardens, and 
those taking a botanical interest in curious plants, I may 
state that Cuscuta major is luxuriantly gi^own here upon the 
nettle, C. Epithymum upon Calliopsis tinctoria, C. Engel- 
manii upon a Solidago, and Orobanche grows upon Hemp. 
I have grown O. minor upon perennial Clovers, and O. He- 
derse may be readily grown upon the Ivy at the bottom of a 
wall (I once saw it growing freely on the top of a wall near 
Lucan, in Ireland) ; so that there ought not to be the diffi- 
culty which our botanic gardeners find in growing these 
curious plants. Orobanche ramosa is also grown here upon 
Calliopsis tinctoria. The safest way with the Orobanches 
is to scrape away the soil till you come near the root of the 
plant on which you intend it to be parasitical, and then sow 
the seed. 

A very old and fine pair of dwarf fan palms, given to 
Louis XIV. by Charles III., Margrave de Bade, are usually 
placed in summer one at each side of the entrance of the am- 
phitheatre. They have straight clean stems, and are more 
than twenty feet high. They escape the notice of many 
visitors, but are well worth seeing by all plant-lovers, not 
only from their age, but their exceptional height. Should any 



76 



THE LUXEMBOURG GARDEN. 



Fig. 31, 



visitor to the J ardin des Plantes wonder at the poor external 
aspect of its houses and some other features as compared 

with those at Kew^ he would 
do well to bear in mind that 
money has a good deal to do 
with such things ; and that the 
grant for museums^ lecturers 
(the lectures are free), the ex- 
pensive collection of animals, 
and everything else in the 
J ardin des Plantes_, is miserably 
small. On the other hand, the 
gardens and plants of La Ville 
de Paris are plentifiilly pro- 
vided with money; the muni- 
cipality of Paris often spending 
prodigious sums for the pur- 
chase of plants, and even for the 
plant decoration of a single ball. 
One ball at the Hotel de Ville 
during the festivities of 1867 cost considerably over 30,000/., 
while the poor Jardin des Plantes gets from the State not more 
than one- third of that sum to exist upon for a whole year. 




The Ampliitlieatre in the Jardin des 
Plantes. On each side of the en- 
trance there is a very tall and old 
specimen of the " dwarf fan palm." 



The Luxembourg Garden. 

The beautiful old garden attached to the Palais du Luxem- 
bourg — the favourite resort for many years of the Parisians 
of the left bank of the Seine — has lately been almost entirely 
remodelled, much to the indignation of the Parisian j)ublic 
and journalists ; but it is still a pretty garden. Geometrical 
gardens are seldom capable of affording any prolonged interest 
or refreshing beauty ; very rarely so much so as that of the 
Luxembourg. Before the recent alterations there was a good 
botanic garden — an irregular sort of English garden, which 
the French call the " never to be forgotten nursery^^ — and 
much miscellaneous interest now passed away. At present 
matters are much more concentrated, and we shall find less 
to speak of than of old, but yet enough to make the place 



THE LUXEMBOURG GARDEN. 



77 



worth a short notice. The garden used to be famed for 
its roses, and for perhaps the largest collection of vines ever 
accumulated, but recent changes have altered all this. The 
vines were removed bodily to the Jardin d^Acclimatation, in 
the Bois de Boulogne, and thus it lost some of its interest. 
The glass-house department, however, retains most of its 
attractions, and to the horticultural visitor will present a 
good deal of interest. It contains the best collection of 
Orchids in anj public garden about Paris, fine Camellia- 
houses in which the specimens attain great perfection, and 
miscellaneous collections. The object and limits of this 
book will not permit us to enter into particulars of this 
department, and therefore we will go in the open air and 
look at the broader features of the scene. 

Usually in geometrical gardens the portion nearest the 
building is a terrace commanding the surroundings — here, 
on the contrary, the part nearest the palace and stretching 
away from its face is a basin flanked by balustraded terraces. 
Above these terraces are seen numerous marble statues and 
horse-chestnut groves. The lower portion, however, is from 
a gardening point of view the most interesting, and we will 
glance at the mode of decoration pursued therein. 

The grass banks that rise from the lower garden to the 
balustrade — such slopes as may be seen in most places of 
the kind — are not left naked, but planted with two rows of 
dwarf rose bushes, and the effect of these is very pretty. 
There seems no particular reason why like spots should be 
left naked with us. Continuous borders, not beds, run 
round the squares of grass, &c., and from the dawn of 
spring to the end of autumn these are never without 
occupants — never ragged, never flowerless. The system 
adopted is one of bedding and herbaceous plants mixed, 
but all changed every year. They steal out a spring 
flower this week, and put in a fine herbaceous or bedding 
plant, or strong growing florists' flower in its stead, and 
with the very best success. Stocks of good bedding and 
herbaceous plants are always kept on hand to carry this out, 
and the placing of the herbaceous plants into fresh ground 
every year causes them to flower as freely as the bedders. 



78 



THE LUXEMBOURG GARDEN. 



But these borders also contain permanent things — Lilac 
bushes, Roses, &c., which give a line of verdure throughout 
the centre of the border, and prevent it from being quite 
overdone with flowers. Among those woody plants there 
were others very beautiful and very sweet for many weeks 

Fig. 32. 




Plan of the Luxembourg Garden as recently altered. 



through the better part of the season, and these were low 
standard bushes of the common Honeysuckle ! English 
flower-gardeners would perhaps scarcely ever think of that 
for such a position ; but alternating between a Rose and a 
Lilac, or other bush, and throwing down a head of free- 



THE LUXEMBOURG GARDEN. 



79 



grooving and flowering shoots^ very few subjects look more 
pleasing in the flower garden. The mixture of Phloxes, 
Gladioli; (Enothera speciosa, Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, large 
yellow Achillea, &c., to be seen here every summer and 
autumn, is quite attractive, and much more varied than is 
now often the case. They also have the subtropical 
system, and rather more tastefully than elsewhere. Thus 
in one part may be seen a graceful mixture of a variety of 
fine-leaved plants with an edging of Fuchsias, instead of 
the ponderous mass of 500 plants of one variety of Canna, 
which you sometimes meet with in other places about Paris. 
M. Riviere is fond of having mixed beds of ferns in the 
open air, isolated specimens of tree ferns, Woodwardias 
elevated on moss-covered stands, &c. and their efi'ect is 
usually very good. The planting of the vases too is good. 
Instead of using only flat-headed subjects, as many do with 
us, they place in the centre of each a medium- sized plant of 
the New Zealand flax, with its long and boldly graceful 
leaves, and then set geraniums, &c., around, finishing ofi" 
with the ivy-leaved geranium, the Tropseolum, &c., for 
drooping over the margin. 

The efiect of the fountain of Jacques Debrosse and its 
surroundings is the most satisfactory of the sort I have ever 
seen. The frontispiece, engraved from a photograph, almost 
does away with the necessity for a written description of it. 

Stretching from the foot of the fountain there is a long 
water-basin, a walk on each side of that bordered with 
Plane trees, which meeting overhead make a long leafy 
arch, so that the effect of the fountain group at the end, 
representing Polyphemus discovering Acis and Galatea, is 
very fine. It is of course heightened by the leafy canopy 
of Planes, but very much more so by the way in which the 
Ivy and Yirginian creeper are made to form gTaceful 
wreaths from tree to tree. Between the trees the Irish 
ivy is planted, and then trained up in rich graceful wreaths, 
so as to join the stems at about eight feet from the ground. 
At about a foot or so above the iyj another and almost 
straight wreath of Yirginian creeper is placed, and the 
effect of these two simple wreaths from tree to tree is 



80 



THE LUXEMBOURG GARDEN. 



quite refreshing at all times. The wreaths seem to fall 
from the pillar-like stems of the Planes rather than to 
grow from the space beneath them_, the bottom of the 
lower wreath resting on the earth. An adoption of this 
or a similar plan would add verdure and grace to many a 
formal grove^ bare and naked-looking about the base. 

In these gardens the Oleander is grown into large bushes 
like the orange-trees, and put out with them during the 
summer months. They become perfect beds of flowers. 
I have seen plants or rather trees of those oleanders in 
flower here, quite ten feet across, and with the flowers as 
thick upon them as on a bed of Pelargoniums. They are 
simply treated like the orange-trees, the culture of which 
is fully described elsewhere in this book. Doubtless the 
plan would succeed in England, and it is worth a trial. 
Even indoors the Oleander is not often flowered well with us, 
though quite worth the trouble of cultivation. Probably 
the complete rest during winter that the plants get in an 
orangery, and the making of all their growth out of doors 
in the full light and free air, are more conducive to their 
well-being than the careful culture they receive in our 
glass-houses. On the Continent they are abundantly grown. 
M. Eiviere fils has obligingly written a short article on their 
cultivation for me, which will be met with further on. 

On the 5th of July, 1867, the men were busily em- 
ployed in these gardens moving large chestnut and plane 
trees in full leaf. They take them up with immense balls 
of earth, by powerful machinery, and very successfully, but 
this system should not be pursued more than is barely 
necessary in private gardens or public either. It may be 
very desirable for Paris to move common trees of goodly 
size to complete and rearrange straight avenues here and 
there, but the plan is not worth the expense in any other 
case. 

Numerous amateurs and others go to the Luxembourg to 
hear M. Riviere, the superintendent, deliver his free lectures, 
which are thoroughly practical, and illustrated by the aid 
of living specimens and all the necessary material. The 
lecturer goes through the theory and practice of the subject 



I 
I 



THE LUXEMBOURG GARDEN. 



81 



before an attentive class^ consisting of several hundred 
persons, and elucidates tlie subject in a way which cannot 
fail to highly benefit the numerous amateurs who attend. 
It is interesting to see such a number of people here at 
nine o^clock in the morning, and the deep interest taken in 
the matter, speaks much for the excellence of the professor. 
As botanical professors lead their pupils on occasional ex- 
cursions over meadow and hill, so M. Riviere takes his classes 
to famous horticultural establishments from time to time, — 
to Montreuil, famous for its peaches ; Thomery, for its 
vines, and so on. There are many lectures delivered in 
England on like subjects, but none so directly useful to the 
horticulturist as these. 

M. Riviere, being an admirer of Woodwardias, pays 
special attention to their cultivation, and succeeds in grow- 
ing them to great size in small baskets, balls of moss, &c. 
The accompanying plate will show how effective they are 
when thus treated. Some of the specimens are placed in 
the open garden on rustic stands or in vases during the 
warmer months, and thus they grace the flower garden in 
summer as well as the conservatory in winter. 



f 



G 




82 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE SQUARES^ PLACES,, CHURCH GARDENS^ ETC. 

Most of us are familiar enougli with tlie aspects of the 
London squares, with their melancholy loneliness, and fre- 
quent filthiness — their highest efforts being in the planting 
of Privet, &c., so cleverly that any view of the interior is 
impossible. If by way of contrast we glance at the state 
of one of the most central and best known squares in Paris 
before entering on the general question, we may be able to 
get an idea of the different system pursued in each city, and 
I trust also of the great advantages and superiority of the 
Parisian one. The square and Tour St. Jacques illustrate 
judicious city improvements better than anything else that 
I am acquainted with. This tower — originally part of 
an old church, and hidden from view by tall, narrow, dirty 
streets which crowded around it, is now one of the most 
beautiful and interesting objects in Paris — striking to every 
one who passes by it, and with the garden a source of much 
pleasure and benefit to the people who live in this central 
neighbourhood. It was made so by clearing away narrow 
old streets and buildings and making a garden. 

The first thing that strikes the visitor in this square is 

^ ^„ its freshness, perfect keepinsr, and the 

Fm. 33. - p i 1 ^ ^' . . 

-^^^ numbers ot people who are seated m it, 

reading, working, or playing. " The 
same reason,^' it is said in ^ Guesses at 
Truth,^ " which calls for the restoration 
of our village greens, calls no less impera- 
tively in London for the throwing open 
of the gardens in all the squares. What 
Portion of the Plan of bright refreshing spots would these be 

margin of a Parisian . , , • i - n i i • i :\ > 

square. 1^ the midst ot our huge brick and stone 




THE SQUARES, PLACES, CHURCH GARDENS, ETC. 83 

labyrinths, if we saw them crowded on summer evenings with 
the tradespeople and mechanics from the neighbouring 
streets, and if the poor children who now grow up amid the 
filth and impurities of the alleys and courts, were allowed to 
run about these playgrounds, so much healthier both for the 
body and the mind ! We have them all ready, a word may 
open them. At present the gardens in our squares are 
painful mementoes of aristocratic exclusiveness. They who 
need them the least monopolize them. All the fences and 
walls by which this exclusiveness bars itself out from the 
sympathies of common humanity must be cast down."*^ The 
aspect of this square with its wide walks lined with chairs, 
on which hundreds of people sit and enjoy the scene at all 
hours, but particularly in the evenings, would have well 
realized this writer*s ideal of what a square should be. Nor 
have the richest potentates more beautiful or diverse 
objects in their gardens than are here spread out for all who 
will enjoy them. It is almost as attractive to the passer-by in 
the street as to those inside, for instead of a clump of shrubs 
of commonplace character, cutting it off from the view of the 
passer-by. there is a belt of grass of varying width, kept 
perfectly fresh and green, and on it here and there large 
beds and masses, usually distinct from each other. Now it 
is a fine bed of the dwarf fan-palm, edged with Carludovica, 
as much exposed to the street as to the square ; now a 
group of shade-giving hardy trees, furnished beneath with 
neat evergreens, and finished off with a line or two of 
flowers, next, a mixed bed of variegated Dahlias and other 
tall autumn flowers, and so on. On the carpets of fresh 
grass between these various clumps there are here and 
there isolated trees — chestnuts, and the like, to give the 
necessary shade and dignity, and to flower in their season. 
In nearly every case the stems of these are neatly clothed 
with climbers, generally ivy, occasionally Aristolochia and 
Clematis. Yery pretty effects maybe worked out by using 
the best climbers. But the grassy carpet is also ornamented 
by smaller, though no less noble, things than the large 
trees just mentioned. It is sparsely dotted with plants 
ha\ang fine leaves, or distinct character. On one sweep we 

G 2 



84 THE SQUARES^ PLACES, CHUECH GARDENS, ETC. 

have a tree Pseony, the tall Japanese Polygonum, and a 
large-leaved Solanum. Passing two clumps of shrubs, and 
between them an entrance, we meet with another strip of 
green grass, adorned with four distinct plants — the Pampas 
grass, the Irish Yew, Meiianthus major, Hibiscus roseus, 
and so on. It should be distinctly understood that these 
plants stand singly and isolated on the grass, so that their 
character may be seen. In the mixed clumps and planta- 
tions near there are plenty of opportunities of seeing the 
effects of things when grouped or massed. 

Between the walk and the beautiful old tower there is 
a little lawn, and in one nook of that deep green carpet^ 
sheltered on three sides, but coming boldly into the view 
from the greater part of the square, is a specimen of the 
noblest of fine-leaved plants, the great Abyssinian Musa. 
It is about twelve feet high : the base appears quite two 
feet in diameter, the young leaves made during the season 
are perfectly intact, eight feet long each, a great red taper- 
ing midrib, like a huge billiard cue, running from base to 
point of each, and from this supply- pipe the gracefully 
waved venation curls away towards the margin. Backed 
by the foliage of the trees of our own latitudes, it forms a 
striking and noble object indeed. Then, in the immediate 
foreground, there is a mass of a scarcely less striking plant, 
the edible Caladium, which springs from a groundwork of 
fragrant mignonette, edged with the woolly Gnaphalium ; 
and so in like manner are sparsely scattered over the green 
(they wisely keep the central parts clear to secure a little 
breadth and repose), striking specimens or groups of speci- 
mens, some of which it would pay the city to grow, if it 
were only to give art students living specimens of Nature^s 
finest leaf forms. I know some botanic gardens ten times 
the size of this little square, which fail to furnish anything 
like so good an illustration of the diversity and beauty of 
the vegetable kingdom, and others where huge, tasteless and 
formal arrangements prevent an equally agreeable impres- 
sion from being obtained. 

Amidst the whole stands the famous old tower, with its 
leaves and figures in stone, a thing of beauty and interest 



PLATE XXI. 




THE SQUARE AND TOUR ST. JACQUES. 




I 

i 

i 

' ) 

\ 

t 
! 

j 
i 

i 

j 

i 

I : 

li \ 
I - ! 

l! 

li ■ 

ii ■ ; 

III 



THE SQUARES, PLACES, CHURCH GARDENS, ETC. 85 



of itself, but greatly enhanced by being set so sweetly in a 
green and brilliant garden. At every step the tower pre- 
sents a fresh face, and the square a new charm. People 
who sneer at what they call Haussmannization would do well 
to ponder on such facts as this : a little reflection might lead 
them to discover numerous objects more worthy of satire. 
About this Tour St. Jacques were tried for the first time 
the Wigandias, now the admiration of so many in both 
French and English gardens, the Cannas, the Musas, Palms, 
Ficuses, and others of the better kinds of what may be 
termed the flora of Parisian gardens. What a change from 
the filth and consequent unwholesomeness of its ancient 
state ! How diff'erent from the small squares around our 
churches and monuments with their naked slimy earth and 
doleful aspect ! Surely they might as well bloom with 
verdure and life as be so suggestive of all that is opposite ! 
A visit to the Tour St. Jacques and its surroundings, 
especially if accompanied by some idea of what the spot was 
before the improvement was carried out, could not fail to 
leave a deep impression of the great advantages to be 
derived from the execution of similar improvements in our 
cities. The old tower belonged to the ancient church of 
St. Jacques, which was built in 1508. It is 175 feet high, 
and affords a fine view of the greater part of the capital. 
It was this tower that was used by Pascal in his experiments 
on the variation of the barometer at diff'erent heights. The 
works belonging to the garden were executed in 1856, the 
total cost being nearly 6000/. for the alterations and planting. 

Although so far in advance of our own squares in 
every way, it is interesting to note that the idea was first 
taken from London ; but while we still persist in keeping 
the squares for a few privileged persons, and usually without 
the faintest trace of any but the very poorest plant orna- 
ment, they make them as open as our parks, and decorate 
them with a variety and richness of vegetation with which 
it is only fair to say the choicest spots in our own great 
gardens, public or private, cannot be compared. The whole 
subject is treated of in such a judicious way by M. R. 
Mitchell in the " Constitutionner^ that his remarks may be 



86 THE SQUARES, PLACES, CHURCH GARDENS, ETC. 



appropriately quoted here, dealing as they do fairly with 
both sides of the question. 

It has been often remarked, and with gi'eat reason, that 
the English have carried their material civilization further 
than we have. Comparisons have frequently been made 
between Paris and London that were not at all to our ad- 
vantage, and we are obliged to allow that the sort of accu- 
sation brought against us was not wanting in justice. It is 
not many years since the boundaries of Paris inclosed an 
old city that was a disgrace to our civilization streets, or 
rather fissures, without ventilation, and unhealthy districts 
where an entire population of poor people were languishing 
and dying. Now, however — thanks to the useful and im- 
portant works that have been lately carried out — the sun 
shines everywhere ; streets have been enlarged, and every 
one has sufficient air to breathe. Paris contains but few 
unhealthy alleys, whilst in London the existence of such 
localities as Bermondsey, Soho, St. Giles''s3 Spitalfields, 
Whitechapel, &c., &c., is still to be deplored. 

We are far from forgetting the immense development of 
material civilization in England. We simply mean to say 
that our neighbours frequently invent for the sake of privi- 
lege, and that when their ideas are good we take advantage 
of them and popularize them. We will take a single ex- 
ample : every one knows how justly the English pride them- 
selves on their gardens called squares, which are the admira- 
tion of every foreigner. Our unfortunate public places that 
the pedestrian cannot cross in summer without being giiiled 
by the sun or blinded by the dust only serve as examples 
of oui' inferiority in this respect. The square, that is to 
say, a little park surrounded by a railing, is the representa- 
tion at once of a question of health — a question of morality, 
and perhaps even of national self-respect. We certainly 
could boast of the Place Royale, which, however, much more 
closely resembled an unsuccessful attempt than the first step 
in a happy way. At present, however, Paris need envy London 
for nothing. The Emperor, who understands that for an 
idea to be adopted in France it is not indispensable that it 
should be French, was struck with the happy results that 



PLATE XXII. 




THE SQUARES, PLACES, CHURCH GARDENS, ETC, 87 



would accrue from the naturalization of tlie square amongst 
us. He understood the necessity of a place of refuge,, rest^ 
and freshness for those who have never carried their desires 
even so far as the Passy omnibus, or even the railway to the 
Bois de Boulogne. He has consequently bestowed on our 
capital the squares of St. Jacques laBoucherie, St. Clothilde, 
the Temple^ Louvois, des Arts et Metiers, and the Pare Mon- 
ceaux. These masses of vegetation widely distributed 
amongst the most populous neighbourhoods cleanse the air 
by absorbing the miasmatic exhalations^ thus enabKng 
every one to breathe freely. 

" The time has passed when a plate of copper exposed to 
the air in one of the streets now demolished, would become 
covered with oxide in a single night. This is a question of 
public health that it is most important to bring forward. 
Before the establishment of the Paris squares the existence 
of a great number of children was passed in confined and 
unwholesome districts. The fresh air for them was only the 
threshold of that vitiated atmosphere that we have just been 
speaking of. They were obliged to take a long walk before 
they could find a patch of verdure or a bit of country. 
The children went out but little ; it was useless to dress 
them or make them clean, because they never went out of 
their own neighbourhood, and in this way their early years 
passed away. How many times have we not noticed with 
painful emotion these little, ragged, pale creatures, who 
never apparently thought of the filth in which they were 
obliged to live ! 

Now, thank God, this dark picture has become bright. 
Within a couple of steps of the poor mane's house there are 
trees, flowers, and gravel-walks where his children can run 
about, and clean and comfortable seats where their parents 
may sit together and talk. Family ties are strengthened, 
and the workman soon understands that there are calmer 
and more moral pleasures than those he has been used to 
seek in the wine- shop. Again, the different degrees of the 
members of the working classes meet together on common 
ground, and parental feeling is developed by emulation. A 
child must not be allowed to be ragged for fear of its being 



88 THE SQUARES, PLACES, CHURCH GARDENS, ETC. 



remarked, and we will answer for it that a woman in whose 
breast maternal instinct has not been entirely smothered 
will never take her child into a public place without &st 
paying attention to the cleanliness which is the ornament of 
the poor. Some time ago, while walking through the 
Square du Temple, where hundreds of children were running 
and jumping and filling their lungs with the countiy air 
that has thus been brought into Paris, we could not help 
saying to ourselves that strengthened and developed by 
continual exercise these youngsters would one day form a 
true race of men, which would give the State excellent 
soldiers, good laboui'ers for our farms, and strong artisans 
for our factories. 

" It has already been stated that the English originate 
privileges and that we popularize and perfect their ideas. 
We shall prove what we advance by comparison. The 
Parisian Ediles have made squares wherever a too crowded 
population threatened to contaminate the atmosphere, and 
in all the paii:s of the city, farthest from the Tuileries, the 
Luxembourg, or the Bois de Boulogne, so that those 
living in the neighbourhood might be able to get to them 
easily. In London, on the contrary, with but few excep- 
tions, there are no squares worthy of the name, except in 
rich and open neighbourhoods. The largest and most 
beautiful gardens are found at the West-end in Belgravia, 
or at Brompton, that is to say, at the very gates of Hyde 
Park. With us trees are planted for sanitary reasons, and 
the squares have been established, more especially in those 
neighbourhoods where the atmosphere most requii'ed to be 
constantly purified, and to this end trees of a particular 
sort were chosen for their power of absorption. Fountains 
too were built, and small pieces of water, which spread 
that pleasant freshness through the air that is so grateful 
to the workman who has passed the whole day in the 
heavy atmosphere of the workshop. 

" In London they appear to have been above everything 
anxious about the health of the trees ; a healthy and warm 
climate was chosen for them in o^^en neighbourhoods close 
to the parks, so that they should not suffer too much from 



THE SQUARES, PLACES^ CHURCH GARDENS, ETC. 89 



home sickness. We do not mean to say that the city_, for 
instance^ or the other parts of the town^ are completely un- 
provided with squares, but simply that they are so small 
and mean that they give one the idea of having been 
blown into their position by the wind. But the head- 
quarters of misery that we spoke of a short time ago — 
those masses of crumbling houses — those networks of dark 
alleys, — in a word, all that most needs pure air and daylight 
has been forgotten, or rather neglected while the richer 
parts have been improved. In Paris the squares are open 
to every one; in England they are locked up, surrounded 
by a railing surmounted with spikes, and planted with 
bushes so as to impede the view of all that is going on 
inside. By the payment of a small sum, generally a pound 
a year, each inhabitant of the houses forming the four 
sides of the square has the right to a key of the gate. So 
that for a poor man to walk with his family in any of these 
gardens^ he must first live in a square and pay a high rent 
for the privilege, and then contribute a pound a year to- 
wards the expense of maintaining it. Practically these 
squares are useless, and nearly always deserted. In 
London the squares are private property with which 
the State cannot meddle. With us, on the contrary^ 
it is the Government that takes the initiative in these 
municipal improvements. It is to the city of Paris 
that we owe their construction ; they have cost a great 
deal, and the Imperial idea has only as yet been partially 
carried out. We have already transformed the Bois de 
Boulogne, the Bois de Vincennes, and we shall soon have 
many more public promenades in different parts of the capi- 
tal. Before long Paris will be one vast garden. 

It is only necessary to walk in the neighbourhood of any 
of the squares of Paris towards the middle of the day to see 
with what pleasing readiness they are patronized by the 
working classes. To give only an example, the Square des 
Arts et Metiers is so crowded with people after four o^ clock 
that it is impossible to pass through it. It was at one time 
said that the establishment of a public garden was an idea 
that was perfectly practical in London, but not in Parisj 



90 THE SQUARES, PLACES, CHURCH GARDENS, ETC. 



where the inhabitants were so turbulent and revolutionary 
that they would soon pull down the trees, pluck the flowers, 
and pull up the plants by the roots. Experience, however^ 
has shown how utterly this opinion was devoid of founda- 
tion. At the inauguration of the Pare de Monceaux all the 
gates were thrown open to the crowd. No surveillance was 
exercised over the 50,000 persons who crowded the walks. 
At the end of the day the total amount of damage done 
only amounted to some forty-five francs for a few turf 
borders that had been trampled upon. This fact is per- 
fectly conclusive. Besides, the squares have now been 
opened for a long time, and the numberless frequenters 
of them have conducted themselves with admirable order 
and decency. The people evidently understand that they 
are at home ; that it is for their especial behoof that the 
gardens have been constructed; they know that in pulling 
up a flower it is their own property they are destroying ; 
and, moreover, they evince a respectful gratitude for the 
hands that have given them these pleasant places of resort. 
The establishment of public squares in Paris is an eminently 
social idea. We repeat it, it tends to regenerate the human 
race by the development of the physical forces ; by exercise 
in the open air it improves the morals of the people, by 
allowing the working man to change the dirty wine-shop 
by a pleasant walk and an agreeable resting-place; and, 
lastly, it proves our readiness to adopt in our own country 
whatever appears good and useful to our neighbom's." 

It is to be hoped that we in our turn shall show an equal 
readiness to profit by the excellent example shown us in city 
squares. There are many private squares in London which 
merely occupy space that otherwise would be devoted to the 
gardens of the houses around; but, on the other hand, 
there are not a few which seem to invite a trial of the 
system found to work so well in Paris. I have very little 
doubt that if we could set one of these sweet little Parisian 
squares down in the centre of London, it would induce 
many who would now oppose with all their might any 
attempt to open their square to the public to ask for the 
change. And eventually it would come to this, that even 



THE SQUARES, PLACES, CHURCH GARDENS, ETC. 91 



persons having a claim over tlie smallest squares in 
London — those that have been substituted for the little 
private gardens — would see that it was to their interest 
and for the benefit of everybody living near the square 
that it should be cheerfully decorated^ well kept, open to 
the public at all reasonable hours,, and a place where a 
working man, too tired to walk to a distant park, could sit 
down to rest without the necessity of resorting to the public- 
house or any like place. 

The Square St. Jacques, already alluded to, is so placed 
that every visitor to Paris must see it. The next to be 
noticed is rather out of the usual route of the English 
visitor. 

The Square des Batignolles is one of the largest and best 
worth seeing in Paris. Entering it from its lower side, the 
general scheme is seen to be that of a little vale, down 
which meanders a streamlet, ending in a small round piece 
of water. The margins of this streamlet are variously 
embellished with suitable plants : the rich grassy sides 
slope up till they end in dense plantations of the choicest 
shrubs, so well planted and watered that they look as fi-esli 
as if growing twenty miles from a large city. Let us walk 
round — the margin of the shallow grassy vale to our right, 
the boundary shrubberies and the railing to our left. The 
walk expands from a -p^^ 2^ 

^^^^^^^^^^^ 



breadth of ten or a dozen 
feet to forty, in the first 
corner of the square, so 
that the children find little 
playgrounds without going 
on the vividly gi'een grass. 
The first attraction to the 
eye on the right is a group 
of the variegated maize 
springing out of a mass of Portion of plan of Parisian square, showing 
dwarf Phlox Drummondi. ^'^^^^\^^ of the walk to form a play- 

xj^ ^ j^xxi.-^ia.v^ . ground, with seats and shade-giving trees. 

Beyond it is a group of 

Plane trees. Honeysuckles being trained up their stems by 
the aid of rings of galvanized wire. 




92 THE SQUARES, PLACES, CHURCH GARDENS, ETC. 



Next on tlie right again comes a magnificent group 
of Caladium esculentum^ springing out of Lobelia Paxtoni ; 
behind it a dense mass of the Pampas Grass^ in front of 
groups of Poplars and Cedars. On the left a profuse 
variety of the very best shrubs, flowering and otherwise ; 
all these groups of shrubs being edged with some kind of 
summer flower. Indeed it is these margins that afford the 
floral display ; and the absence of all attempt to make a 
species of extensive coloured cotton handkerchief of the 
place makes it almost as fresh and free from vulgarity and 
gaudiness as a ferny dell in a forest. The keeping is 
perfect^ and there is no fence between the public and the 
flowers but the very neat edging of rustic iron^ which rises 
about five inches above the gravely and is placed about two 
inches outside the grass. The only bed without any green 
relieving it in the whole place was one of Centaurea 
ragusina, planted thinly and springing out of a ground- 
work of variously coloured and brilliant Portulacas. Again 
we come to another angle of the ground, and the walk 
once more widens to forty feet_, with lots of seats in its 
back portion. Behind all^ to the left, is the well diversified 
dense shrubbery; to the right Cedars and Thujopsis on the 
grass, of the freshness^ softness, and verdure of which 
latter I can give no adequate idea. Here and there, 
isolated on the turf, was a single plant of the red- stained 
variety of the common Castor-oil plant, of which the 
fruit, leaves, and stems were all effective, the former strik- 
ingly so. The Bananas planted out here are in a poor 
state, except Musa Ensete, which is, as usual, superb. At 
another corner there is again a widening of the walk to 
forty feet. A few Chestnuts are planted on these wide 
spots for shade; on the right there is a bank of choice 
shrubs and low trees, margined with a belt of scarlet 
Pelargoniums — the only ones on the spot ; but as it pro- 
bably took more than 800 plants to form this belt, I do not 
think anybody could complain of the scarcity of them, 

We will next pass up the walk by the streamlet that 
runs through the centre of the grass. This is tastefully 
margined with tufts of water plants ; but a novel and 



THE SQUARES, PLACES, CHURCH GARDENS, ETC. 98 



praiseworthy feature is added. At some distance from 
the margin — from four to ten feet — are planted here and 
there single specimens of plants which, while not of 
the water or the marshy assimilate more or less in character 
with the plants of those places — hardy Bamboos^ Yuccas_, 




ErianthuSj and other large grasses^ some trnly fine Acanthus 
latifolins, the Pampas Grass^ Tamarix^ Funkia grandiflora, 
&c. Finally, we arrive at a mass of ivy and creeper clad 
rockwork, from which issues the source of the rivulet : this 
rockwork has its rear hidden amongst trees. 



94 



THE SQUARE DES BATIGNOLLES. 



The Square des Batignolles^ constructed on the once 
open space in front of the church belonging to the com- 
mune^ is the largest of all the squares belonging to new 
Paris ; it contains over three acres of ground_, without 
taking into consideration wide promenades planted with 
trees outside. It cost no less than 60^000/. The works were 
commenced in 1862, and were finished the following year. 

In a work of this kind minute details, especially of 
commonplace subjects, are very rarely desirable, and for 
this reason I avoid as much as possible describing the 
contents of the squares and gardens in full. Nevertheless, 
some may wish to know about the details of the planting, 
and in the case of this square it is given. It will be noted 
that each group of Section I is divided in three — the first 
being trees ; the second the shrubs that adorn the outer 
sides of the plantation ; the third the decorative plants 
of the margin. The numbers answer to those of the plan 
on page 93. 

Sect. 1. — Groups of trees, sJiruhs, and flowers. — 1. ^sculus rubicunda, 
^sculus hippocastanum, Tilia europsea, Padus virginiana. — Ligustrum ovali- 
folium, Berberis vulgaris, Eibes sanguineum, Virgilia rosea, Lonicera tartarica — 
Pblox decussata, Coleus VerscbafFeltii. — 2. Paulo wnia imperialis, Catalpa 
syringsefolia, Platanus occidentalis, Negundo fraxinifolium. — Forsytbia viridis- 
sima, Eibes (in var.), Spirea (in var.), Sambucus nigi-a, Sympboricarpus 
(in var). — Pelargonium zonale inquinans, var. Prince Imperial. — 3. ^sculus 
Mppocastanum, Sorbus aucuparia, Cytisus laburnum, Acer platanoides, Alnus 
communis. — Ligustrum ovalifolium, Ligustrum spicatum, Cydouia japonica, 
Buxus sempervirens augustifolius, Prunus lauro-Cerasus. — Cbrysantbemum pin- 
natifidum. — 4, Alnus communis, K(Klreuteria paniculata, Padus virginiana, 
Paulownia imperialis. — Ligustram spicatum, Ligustrum ovalifolium, Cytisus 
sessilifolius, Mabonia Aquifolium, Berberis vulgaris.- — Pelargonium zonale in- 
quinans, var. Cbristinus. — 5. Juglans nigra, Sorbus aucuparia, Tilia europsea, 
Acer platanoides, Platanus orientalis, Eobinia viscosa. — Lonicera tartarica, Sam- 
bucus racemosa, Mabonia Aquifolium, Euonymus japonicus, Deutzia scabra, 
Kerria japonica, Weigelia rosea. — Pblox decussata. — 6. Eobinia Pseud-Acacia, 
Acer striatum, Cytisus laburnum, Catalpa syriugfefolia, Eleagnus angustifolius. — 
Hibiscus syriacus, Pbiladelpbus coronarius, Ligustrum ovalifolium, Ligustrum 
spicatum. Viburnum Lantana, Tamarix indica, Cbionantbus virginica. — 
Ageratum coelestinum. — 7. Catalpa syring^folia, Alnus glandulosus, Cytisus 
Laburnum, Sopbora japonica, Juglans nigra, Eobinia Pseud-Acacia. — Berberis 
vulgaris, Yiburuum Opulus,Piibes sanguineum, Euonjmius japonicus, Pbiladelpbus 
inodonim, Deutzia scabra. — Veronica var. Gloire de Lyon. — 8. Tilia argentea 
Acer striatum, J^sculus hippocastanum, Sopbora japonica, Eobinia Pseud-Acacia, 
Fraxinus excelsior var. aurea. — Eibes sanguineum, Forsytbia viridissima. Mains 
spectabilis, Prunus japonica, Cytisus sessilifolius, Kerria japonica, Deutzia scabra. 
— Acbyrantbes Verscbaffeltii. — 9. Alnus fulva, ^sculus bippocastanum, Sopbora 
japonica, Tilia europsa, Cytisus laburnum, Sorbus aucuparia, Acer platanoides. — 
Mabonia Aquifolium, Deutzia scabra, Forsytbia viridissima, Pbiladelpbus grandi- 
florus, Kerria japonica, Sambucus laciniata, Cbionantbus virginica. — Pelargonium 
zonale inquinans, var. Eugenie Mdzard. — 10. Sorbus aucuparia, Acer plata- 



THE SQUARE DE MONTROUGE. 



95 



aoides, Juglans nigra, Paulownia imperialis, Alnus glandulosus, Catalpa syringse- 
folia. — Euonymus japonicus, Forsythia viridissima, Philadelphus coronaria, 
Mahonia Aquifolium, Cornus alba, Eobinia hispida. — Gazania splendens, Phlox 
deciissata. — 11. Negundo fraxinifolium, Populus fastigiata, Juglans nigra, 
Catalpa syringasfolia, Cytisus laburnum, Sorbus aucuparia. — Symphori carpus 
alba, Forsythia viridissima, Eibes sanguineum, Euoaymus japonicus, Deutzia 
scabra, Syringa (in var.)- — Chrysanthemum frutescens. — 12. Paulownia im- 
perialis, Negundo fraxinifolium, Tilia europaea, tEscuIus hippocastanum, ^sculus 
rubicunda, Catalpa syringasfolia, Acer striatum. — Piibes Gordonii, Weigelia rosea, 
Mahonia Aquifolium, Syringa inodorum, Kerria japonica. Hibiscus syriacus. — 
Phlox (in var.), Ptarmica flore pleno, Calceolaria riigosa. — 13. ^sculus hippo- 
castanum, ^sculus rubicunda, Robinia viscosa, Paulownia imperialis, Acer pla- 
tanoides. — Berberis foliis purpureis, Deutzia scabra, Forsythia viridissima, 
Rhus Cotinus, Prunus lauro-Cerasus, Euonymus japonicus. — Phlox decussata, 
Lantana var. Queen Victoria. — 14. Sophora japonica, Juglans regia, Acer rubrum, 
Ailantus glandulosus, Cytisus laburnum, Robinia viscosa. — Bupleurum fruti- 
cosum, Prunus lauro-Cerasus, Euonymus japonicus, Spirea (in var.). Hibiscus 
syriacus, Tamarix indica, Rhus Cotinus, Viburnum Opulus. — Phlox decussata, 
Coleus Verschaifeltii. — 15. Acer platanoides, Paulownia imperialis, Cytisus 
laburnum, Sorbus aucuparia, Robinia Pseud-Acacia, Acer pseudo-Platanus. — 
Ligustrum ovalifolium, Prunus colchica, Sambucus racemosa, Berberis vulgaris, 
Rhus glabra, Kerria japonica, Ribes aureum. — Chrysanthemum frutescens. — 
16. Paulownia imperialis, Acer striatum, Catalpa syringae folia, Tilia argentea, 
Sophora japonica, ^sculus hippocastanum. — Amorpha fruticosa, Ligustrum 
spicatum, Euonymus japonicus, Sambucus nigra, Prunus Mahaleb, Kerria japo- 
nica, Cornus alba. — Fuchsia (in var.). 

Section 2. — Beds for foliage plants and flowers. — 17. Pelargonium zonale 
inquinans. — 18. Hibiscus rosa sinensis, Nierembergia frutescens. — 19. Senecio 
platanifolia, Centaurea candidissima. — 20. Heliotropium var. Anna Thurel, 
Koniga maritima var. foliis variegatis. — 21. Colocasia bataviense. — Calceolaria 
rugSsa, Gazania splendens. — 22. Ficus Cooperii, Cuphea platycentra. — 
23. Colocasia esculenta, Koniga maritima. — 24. Campanula pyramidalis, var. 
caerulea et alba. — 25. Musa paradisiaca, Lobelia erinus. — 26. Plumbago scan- 
dens, Dianthus var. Seneclauzii. 

Section 3. — Isolated trees and plants. — 27. Bambusa aurea. — 28. Pinus 
uncinata. — 29. Araucaria imbricata. — 30. Salisburia adiantifolia. — 31. Pinus 
excelsa. — 32. Thujopsis borealis. — 33. Cupressus funebris. — 34. Cedrus 
deodora. — 35. Thuja occidentalis Warreana. — 36 Abies Pinsapo. — 37. Thu- 
jopsis borealis. 

The Square de Montrouge. — Althougli our island is in good 
repute for its natural verdure,, I feel pretty sure that there are 
few Britons who would not be persuaded of the necessity of 
more efficient watering in our public gardens if they had seen 
this square during the last days of the month of August of the 
past year. To say it was green would be to give the faintest 
idea of the glistening^ deep, and refreshing verdure displayed 
by everything in it, from the trees to the grass. It is a 
very small place, not so big as Leicester-square, but quite a 
gem in its way. It is simply laid out with belts of low 
trees and shrubs ; the centre of the little lawn left un- 
adorned, while all around its edges really distinct and good 
things are dotted about. The Acanthuses were very fine here 



96 



THE SQUARE DU TEMPLE. 



in consequence of the constant and thorongli waterings. 
Previous to visiting this garden^ I liad no idea that they 
would under any treatment look so well at the end of a 
hot season. A plant of A. latifolius here was six feet in 
diameter, not three feet high^ and of the deepest and freshest 
green. I can compare it to nothing but the young pushing: 
leaves of a healthy Camellia in point of glistening verdure. 
Bocconia frutescens I never saw in such prime condition as 
here — the leaves were three feet long and fifteen inches 
wide, the plant four and a half feet high. Perhaps the 
handsomest grass I have ever seen, as regards its foliation, 
was here also. I do not except the Pampas. It was a 
species of Cinna, which had just shown flower for the first 
time ; but it was the grace and position of the leaves that 
were the most conspicuous. The central shoots gave off a 
lot of leaves near the base, as grasses usually do, and con- 
tinued ascending till seven or eight feet high, giving off 
arching leaves all the way to the summit. The falling spray 
of a fountain is not more graceful than were these leaves. 
The effect of such things isolated on the grass is by no 
means sufficiently appreciated by us. A handsome specimen 
of Bambusa aurea, planted alone on the grass, helps to show 
. what may be expected of these tall, shrub-like grasses in 
the time to come ; I believe they will impart to our gardens 
an entirely new aspect, and that of the most desirable sort. 
The one we suppose to be the hardiest of all is tenderer than 
several other species grown in Parisian gardens, and which 
are enumerated elsewhere in this book. Cyrtanthera carnea 
is used in this and other Parisian squares as a tall edging 
plant, and is effective when so employed. 

On one of the grass plots here is a group in bronze. 
Though in an out-of-the-way part of the town, the keeping 
is quite as good and the plants quite as choice as in the 
most fashionable parts. 

The Square du Temple. — This, although a pretty square, 
has scarcely the finish of those previously noticed, but it is 
a great advance on anything we possess in the same way, 
and, as usual, was, on a very hot day in the beginning of 
last September, as fresh as if it had not endured a scorching 



THE SQUARE DU TEMPLE. 



97 



summer. A great advantage of tLe system of -catering em- 
ployed is that walks and every surface may be washed and 
saturated with ease ; for on hot days it is desirable that the 
whole garden be moist and cool. A very splendid effect was 
afforded here by a great mass of Caladium esculentum^ 
planted in a groundwork of the deep crimson Amaranthus 
tricolor^, the whole edged with a wide band of silvery 
Gnaphalium. There is also a small pond with water plants. 

Fig. 36. 




The Square du Temple. 

a piece of rockwork, and two fine examples of the weeping- 
willow— always among the best ornaments of a garden. 
The larger specimen is said to be four centuries old. Small 
ponds in city squares^ however^ are in very doubtful taste^, as 
usually arranged. In a town possessing an abundant 
supply of water it is possible to make some grand features 
with it occasionally ; but the number of small ponds should 
not be increased. They are usually dirty-surfaced, and 
besides seem out of place in a square from which the 
buildings around are not hidden. This square was formed 

H 



98 



THE SQUARE DES ARTS ET METIERS. 



in 1857 on tlie site of the old palace of the same name. It 
has a surface of about 8000 square yards^ and cost 6000/. 

The Square des Arts et Metiers is like not a few others of 
the minor ones, more of a playground than a garden^ gravel 
and trees being the main features. A low balustraded wall 
encloses it, and at intervals vases for aloes and like plants 
are placed upon this. The appearance of this enclosure 
may suggest that a kind of fence different from what we 



Fig. 37. 






Children at Play in the Square des Arts et Me'tiers. 

usually think necessary in London, might be at once more 
elegant, and certainly not more expensive. It would not 
do in the case of the large enclosures, but should we open 
small squares to the public there is no reason why it might 
not be tried. Few of us could have believed that Bay ti-ees 
in tubs would remain intact in that playground for the Lon- 
don Arab — Trafalgar-square— as they did dui'ing the past 
year. In the centre of the Square des Arts et ^letiers 
there is a small but elegant Crimean monument, and there 



PLACE ROTALE. 



99 



are two oblong fountain basins with statnes. Around tbe 
whole runs a narrow flower border,, backed by a few 
shrubs. It is like all Parisian squares^ full of people^ both 
during the day and till late in the evening. The square 
occupies a space of about 5000 square yards^ and cost 
12,800/. 

Place Royale. — This out-of-the-way square is chiefly a 
playground for the infants, and a lounging and chatting 
place for the children and old men. There is an eques- 
trian statue of Louis XIII. in the centre, and around it a 
group of horse-chestnut trees. Underneath, and indeed 



Fm. 38. 




The Place Eoyale. 



nearly the whole square, is a grayeUed surface, except a 
slight belt of flowers which encircles the fountains that are 
placed in each corner. Between the bed of flowers and the 
fountain basin there is a belt of gi'ass, a mere strip four feet 
wide, and on this were planted at intervals single specimens 
of the dark-leaved Canna. They of course backed up the 
bedding-flowers, and came between the eye and the fountain 
basin. This place was opened in the reign of Henry lY. 
A couple of centuries ago it was the fashionable quarter of 
Paris — now comparatively few but those who live in the 
neighbourhood know of its existence. Richelieu, Marion 

H 2 



100 



SQUARE DE BE-LLEVILLE. 



Delorme^ and A^ictor Hugo amongst otlier noted persons 
have inhabited tlie old houses around this old square. 

The garden of the Palais 'Rojsii, probably the best known 
spot in Paris to the English^ must not be confounded with 
the Place Royale, It existed long before many of the 
squares herein mentioned were thought of, is inferior to 
most of them in beauty^ and possesses no noticeable features 
except it be ugly lines of clipped trees. 

The Square des Innocents. — This square which was formed 
in 1859 and 1860 surrounds the celebrated Fontaine des 
Nymphesj which was built in 1550 by Pierre Lescot^ and 
decorated by Jean Goujon. In 1860 it was completely 
restored. The square measures internally 6800 square yards. 
The expenses attending the construction of this square 
amounted to the sum of 8000/._, of which more than three 
quarters was spent in architectural embellishments. Like 
all the new squares of Paris^ it is tastefully embellished with 
trees^ shrubs, and flowers,, and forms a fresh and pleasant 
resort for the inhabitants of the busy neighbourhood in 
which it is placed. 

Square de la Chapelle Expiatoire de Louis XVI. — This 
square, which is situated between the new Boulevard 
Haussmann and the Hues d^Anjou, Pasquier, and Neuve 
des Mathurins, surrounds the chapel that was erected in 
the year 1825 on the site of the cemetery containing the 
remains of the unfortunate Louis XVI. and Marie An- 
toinette. The total area is about 7500 square yards, of 
which about 5000 are open to the public. The square 
cost altogether nearly 7500/., and was completed in the 
year 1865. 

Square de Belleville. — In the centre of the old jt;Zcce where 
the fetes of Belleville were formerly held, which was planted 
with lime trees trained in the form of an arbour, there 
existed an open space a hundi-ed yards long by sixty yards 
broad. This piece of ground has been transformed into a 
square by excavating the earth and planting it with flowers 
and shrubs, thus creating a very pretty public garden in a 
not by any means charming neighbourhood. The works were 
executed in the year 1861, at an expense of 800/. The 



THE SQUARE LOUVOIS. 



101 



making of squares on this very inexpensive scale is much 
more desirable than turning them into costly gardens. 

The Square Montholon. — The Square Montholon is situated 
on the Carrefour de la Rue Montholon in the Eue Lafayette, 
and was constructed in 1863. It is composed of a central 
grassplot, sunk below the level of the garden, and is orna- 
mented at the further end with a rock, from a fissure in 
which a stream of water is constantly falling into a little 
basin. The size of the square is about 5000 square yards, 
and it cost the sum of 7500/. The introduction of the 
miniature lake is here, and in all squares of like extent, a 
mistake. 

Fig. 39. 




Square and Fountain Louvois. 



The Square Louvois is formed on the site of the old 
Theatre de TOpera, which stood there until 1820. After 
the assassination of the Due de Berri, which took place in 
the February of that year, the theatre was pulled down, 
and a Chapelle Expiatoire was built on the spot. The 
building, however, was hardly completed when the Kevolu- 



102 GARDEN OF THE PALAIS DES THERMES. 

tion of 1830 bui^st fortli. The chapel was ^Dulled down and 
the gi'onnd was turned into a public square and planted with 
trees. Later on a beautiful fountain^ from the designs of 
Visconti the architect^ was built in the middle of the spot. 
The square consists principally of a grassplot which sur- 
rounds the fountain^ and of two rows of the old trees^ and 
a few simple ornaments^ but notwithstanding the effect is 
very pretty. The Irish Ivy is used here in a peculiar way : 
— trained so as to form low pyramids. Phloxes being planted 
between. Usually^ it is embellished by a few ornamental 
exotics in summer_, and is at all times a graceful spot. 

Fig. 40. 




View in the Garden of the Palais des Thermes. 



The square or garden around the Hotel Cluny and Palais 
des Thermes is quite distinct from all its fellows, and rightly 
so. Inclosing ruins and a museum of antiquities, the cha- 
racter of both has been imparted to it by arranging some of 
the rougher and more permanent objects in it ; and being 
green and shady, the effect of the whole is quiet and charm- 
ing, though situated alongside the busy boulevard St. oNIichel. 
As in most cities there are old ruins and buildiuo^s bearins: 
some resemblance to those in this gardeu, it may not be 



♦ 



I 



PLATE XXIII. 




THE SQUARE VINTIMILLE. 



103 



amiss to say that they are always greatly enhanced by being 
surrounded with the simplest kind of garden. Ivy_, grass^ 
and a few hardy trees and shrubs are sufficient to change 
their aspect from grimness^ hardness^ and decay to living 
interest. A few shillings^ worth of the seeds of alpine plants 
shaken in the tufts of moss or cracks of mortar would 
give rise to a dwarf vegetation interesting in itself^ but 
doubly so from so markedly illustrating the ceaseless spring 
of life even in the most unlikely places. For the additional 
embellishment of gardens roand old buildings, abbey s, &c., 
there are usually disjecta membra, not of importance enough 
to be preserved indoors, in sufficient abundance, and if 
arranged somewhat as they are here, the result will prove 
satisfactory. The grounds of the museum at York afford 
an admirable example of good taste in this kind of garden. 

The Square Vintimille. — This square, situated in the 
centre of the place of that name, is but of small extent, its 
area being only 650 square yards. The cost of construc- 
tion and restoration amounted to less than 600/. It shows 
that the smallest spots in dusty cities may readily be con- 
verted into oases of verdure and sweetness. 

It would be useless to enumerate all the small squares 
and places that, like the last, are little more than mere 
specks in the city. Enough has been said to show that 
there is life and merit in the Parisian system of keeping 
squares. It may not be perfect, and fault may easily be 
found with the best of them, but considering how short a time 
the municipality has had such works in hand, nobody can 
doubt that they are a credit to it, and well worthy of imita- 
tion by other people interested in the improvement of cities. 
Some may say. Look at the expense — it must be given up 
some day. Not so; intelligent Britons and others of 
means have such a keen appreciation of a well-ordered city, 
and go to Paris in such numbers to enjoy it, that they pay 
a very considerable portion of the expense. I trust, how- 
ever, that the day is coming when all hindrances to making 
Loudon a clean, airy, and noble city will be cleared away, 
and when it will be made habitable for those who must 
live in it at all times, as well as suited to the wants of men 



104 



CHURCH GARDENS AND CEMETERIES. 



of business who can live out of town^ or men of pleasure 
who can leave it at will. 

As to the order kept in these squares, nothing can be 
more perfect. Being as a rule small and compact, the eye 
of the guardian is a thorough protection, if protection were 
required j but the people seem to require no looking after. 
Of course there are many who will say that these open 
and sweetly embellished squares would not be possible in 
London — which is precisely what the Parisians used to say 
before squares were tried there. At the hours fixed the 
guardians of the squares are " instructed to politely invite the 
promenaders to retire, and the public ought immediately to 
conform to this invitation.^^ The gates of the squares, 
gardens, &c., enclosed by railings, are opened to the public 
from the 1st May to 1st October from six in the morning 
to ten in the evening, and from seven in the morning to 
eight in the evening at ail other seasons. It is, however, 
added, that in case of great heat, of snow, or of bad weather, 
or when the wants of the department may require it, the 
hours above indicated may be altered. 

Church Gardens and Cemeteries. 

There is no place in which a fresh little garden can 
be made in better taste than round a city church; and 
in Paris, where the difficulty would be to find an open 
spot that is not planted, it is not likely that the spaces 
around churches are neglected. 

There are several instances of very pretty little gardens 
being associated with churches in Paris, and they are so 
successful that doubtless the system will be extended. The 
best known is that in front of the new parish church of the 
Trinite, a large and attractive building. An oval space^ 
three times as wide as the church, is enclosed in front of it. 
The gradually ascending carriage-way is cut off from the 
garden by a white stone balustrade, as shown in the plate. 
Prom the garden to the church ascent is gained by two 
flights of steps, and between these steps three curvilinear 
cascades fall from three groups of statues, the waters unit- 



CHURCH GARDENS AND CEMETERIES. 



105 



ing in one semicircular basin. The place is very tastefnlly 
disposed and embellished. The effect of this fine new 
cburcli,, with its sweet little garden in front_, is something 
qnite sparkling even for Paris ; and the place is_, like the 
squares^ freely open to the public and much frequented. 

Another exceedingly pretty garden intimately associated 
with a church is the Square St. Clothilde. The view, 
engraved from a small photograph picked up by chance 



EiG. 41. 




The Square and Clim-cli of St. Clotliilde. 



in Paris, will show at a glance how much the beauty of 
like buildings may be enhanced by a little judicious gar- 
dening. It is only justice to state that the tasteful plant- 
ing, the neatness, and, above all, the refreshing verdure 
which is sustained everywhere by profuse waterings, make 
the place leave quite a diflferent impression to anything of 
the kind seen in the British Isles. 

It is an unfortunate fact that when we do attempt 
any sort of garden round our churches it is usually 
of the poorest character. The gardens just alluded 
to have not been made on the site of cemeteries, and 



106 



CHURCH GARDENS AND CEMETERIES. 



therefore the designer -was free to do as he liked with the 
ground. In this country there are numbers of city grave- 
yards which, now disused,, ought sooner or later to be 
turned into gardens^ but gardens of a peculiar kind. 

In some places they have commenced rooting up the 
graveyards^ not merely where the tunnelling power of a 
railway company is brought to bear^ but in places untouched 
in this way^ and where the thing is done for mere love of 
improvement/'' Evergreen shrubs are proverbially fond 
of London smut. The visitor to London who observes 
such matters can hardly fail to be struck with their 
luxuriance in front of Tattersall^s^ and many other spots in 
which they have been planted at some expense. The 
verdant and luxuriant aspect of these places has had its eflPect 
upon the chmThwardens and powers that be^, and accordingly 
they have set to work to beautify our graveyards. Ever- 
greens are to be substituted for headstones^ and lamentable 
bits of cockney-gardening for the memorials of the dead. 
The most notable instance of this kind with which I am 
acquainted is around the church in Bishopsgate-street. 
Tombs and headstones appear to have been cleared out of 
the way and all obstructions removed^ so that a level surface 
naight be obtained on which to set a few hundred evergreens^ 
which have little more chance of flourishing in Bishopsgate- 
street than if planted in the Salt Lake. To have the bones or 
memorials of one^sfriends disturbedfor the ill-digested schemes 
of a jobbing gardener is bad enough ; but when it is considered 
that this sacrilege is performed to plant subjects that have no 
chance of thriving^ then the wisdom of the change is fuUy seen. 
It is true the sculpture in our cemeteries is anything but 
Greeks and the inscriptions are not quite so simple and elegant 
as those in the catacombs ; but the rudest and most mono- 
tonous of them tell of love and death " where human harvests 
grow/^ and to all but the most ^ailgar minds must be sacred 
and beautiful. What^ then, must be the feelings of those who 
have had the memorials of friends and ancestors disturbed 
for such a purpose ? It is enough to draw an anathema from 
a less ready rhymer than the one who wrote " Cursed be 
he who moves my bones V And it is the more inexcusable 



PLATE XX rv. 




CHURCH GARDENS AXD CEMETERIES. 



107 



■when vre reflect that there is not the least occasion for any 
mutilation of the kind^ and that the most suitable trees for 
such places are those that would not require any alteration of 
the gi'ound^ and Tvould flourish freely in a town atmosphere. 
The weeping willow, birch, ash, weeping elm, and a con- 
siderable variety of drooping and other deciduous trees, are 
above all others suited for this purpose, and might be planted 
without interfering with the stones in any way. Would the 
latter look any the worse for being shaded by a beautiful 
pendulous tree here and there ? The fact is, town ceme- 
teries may be made as beautiful as it is possible to make 
them with vegetation, by the use of deciduous trees and 
shrubs and a few well-tried evergreens ; and instead of 
any clearance or levelling being required for the judicious 
placing of these, they will look all the better for being 
pictui-esquely grouped among the tombstones and other 
irregularities of the surface. When new gardens are made 
in connexion with a new church it matters not of course 
how the ground is moved, but it would be a great advan- 
tage if the churchwarden mind could get rid of the idea that 
before making a garden in a graveyard it is necessary to level 
the space and make it like any commonplace bit of ground. 
Instead of pursuing such a course they should procui'e a 
few pounds' worth of advice from a respectable landscape 
gardener acquainted with the subject, and say to him, 
" Embellish the spot without destroying its memorials or 
associations.-'^ If you want it levelled, mutilated, and planted 
with a few formal beds and shrubberies confide its execution 
to an intelligent navvy. In such graveyard gardens much 
temporary flower work should be avoided in consequence of 
the ceaseless care it requires, and all attention should be paid 
to the hardy and permanent ornaments fit for such a place. 
Among these are happily found numerous graceful and 
weeping subjects so suitable for cemeteries. 

Our suburban cemeteries are often gardens, pleasantly 
green, and abounding with trees, weeping and otherwise ; 
while Id the country churchyard where — 

" Scattered oft, the earliest of the year, 
By hands unseen are showers of violets found," 



lOS CHURCH GARDENS AXD CEMETERIES. 

tliere is a quiet verdure Tvldcli makes the si3ot sweet to look 
upon j but witli the cemeteries of Paris it is very different. 
Tliere human love is lavish in its testimony^ but the result 
is ghastly to behold. The quantity of everlasting flowers 
or immortelles,, that is there woven into wreaths^ for placing 
on and about the tombs in the cemeteries^ is something 
astounding. Next to seeing the contents of a hundred 
Morgues displayed^ the great spread of decaying everlastings 
is the most ghastly sight. They hang them on the poor 
little "wooden crosses^ they pile them inside on the covered 
tombs^ they stick them on the few green bushes^ they sling 
them under little spans of glass placed purposely over many 
tombs to protect the immortelles from the weather, till in 
every part^ and particularly the part where the second and 
third-class departed are buried^ there is scarcely anything to 
be seen but everlastings in every stage of decay^ the sight 
being most depressing to anybod}^ used to green British 
chuiThyards. A considerable portion of each large Parisian 
cemetery seems made to be inhabited by ghouls. In addi- 
tion to decomposing composit^^ there is no end of small 
crockery ware art^ and countless little objects made in bead- 
work^ and brought here by the survivors of the dead to hang 
on the little black crosses or tombs. 

It is somewhat different in the portions devoted to the 
graves of those who could command money when they 
moved about on the surface^ and such as passed on their 
way to the grave by the paths of fame or glory. In their 
casC;, a little chapel, a ponderous tomb^, or something of the 
kind, usually protects for a little time the dust of particular 
individuals from mingling with the common clay of their 
poorer relatives^ and affords shelter to the crosses of silver 
and little objects of art, and a little more permanence to 
the wreaths. Eut what a very wide difference between this 
portion and that in which the ground is not paid for in per- 
petuity ! Here the dust is allowed to lie undisturbed, at 
all events till they want to make a railway through it, or 
the gardening taste of a future age directs the surface to 
be levelled and planted with horrid taste as a garden, as has 
been recently done in several cases in London, so that the 



CHURCH GARDENS AND CEMETERIES. 



109 



eartli is not merely a deodorizing medium^ as it Trould ap- 
pear to be in other divisions. In the select parts, in addi- 
tion to small statuary, &c., you frequently see choice forced 
flowers placed on the tombs, and one cold February day I 
saTT a dame, e^ddently a nurse or respectable servant, sitting 
weeping by the costly tomb of a young woman buried that 
day twelvemonth, which tomb she had almost covered with 

Fig. 42. 




Yievr in tlie Cemetery Alontmartre. 



large bunches of white forced Lilac and beautiful buds of 
Roses. 

Next let us visit the wide spaces where the poorer people 
bury their dead out of theii' sight, and you will see a most 
business-like mode of sepulture. A very wide trench, or 
fosse, is cut, wide enough to hold two rows of cof&ns placed 
across it, and 100 yards long or so. Here they are rapidly 
stowed in one after another, just as nursery labourers lay 
in stock " by the heels,'' only much closer, because there is 

no earth between the coflans, and wherever the coffins 

which are very like egg-boxes, only somewhat less sub- 
stantial, happen to be short, so that a little space is left 
between the two rows, those of children are placed in 
lengthwise between them to economize space; the whole 



110 



CHURCH GARDENS AND CEMETERIES. 



being done exactly as a natty man would pack together 
turves or Mushroom- spawn bricks. This is the fosse com- 
mune^ or grave of the humbler class of people_, who cannot 
afford to pay for the ground. I am not certain what be- 
comes of the remains of these poor people after the lapse 
of a short time^ but by some means or other the ground is 
soon prepared for another crop. On this principle_, " the 
rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep but a very short time 
in their last bed^ and there is a very wide difference indeed 
between sickle and crown " in Pere la Chaise. 

One day_, when in the Cemetery of Mont Parnasse^ I 
saw them making a new road^ the bottom being made with 
broken headstones^ many of them bearing the date of 1860 
and thereabouts. These had been placed on ground that 
had not been paid for in perpetuity, and were consequently 

Fm. 43. 




The Catacombs. 



grubbed up when, as before described, they wanted to fill 
the trenches a second time. Sir Charles Lyell tells us about 
a graveyard being undermined by the sea on the eastern 
coast, and a stone inscribed to perpetuate " the memory 
of somebody being knocked about by the waves on the 
beach — but I never fully knew what a poor, transient, weedy 
kind of grass is the flesh of the lords of creation till I be- 
came acquainted with Parisian cemeteries. A cutting 
thirteen or fourteen feet wide, with the earth thrown up in 
high banks at each side, a priest standing at one part near 



CHURCH GARDENS AND CEMETERIES. 



Ill 



a slope formed by the slight covering thrown over the buried 
of that day^, and^ frequently_, a little crowd of mourners and 
Mendsj bearing a coffin. They hand it to the man in the 
bottom of the trench, who packs it beside the others without 
placing a particle of earth between ; the priest says a few 
words,, and sprinkles a few drops of water on the coffin and 
clay; some of the mourners weep, but are soon moved out 
of the way by another little crowd, with its dead, and so on 
till the long and wide trench is full. They do not even take 
the trouble to throw a little earth against the last coffins 
put in, but simply put a rough board against them for the 
night. Those places not paid for in perpetuity are com- 
pletely cleared out, dug up, and used again after a few 
years, the bones being doubtless sent to the catacombs. 
The wooden crosses, little headstones, and countless orna- 
ments are carted away, thrown in great heaps, the crosses 
and consumable parts being, I believe, sent to the hospitals 
as fuel. The headstones from such a clearing (when not 
claimed in good time by their owners) go to make the 
drainage of a drive, or some similar purpose. And yet 
these people, who cannot afford to pay for the ground in 
perpetuity, go on erecting inscribed headstones, and bringing 
often their little tokens of love, knowing well that a few 
years will sweep away these, and that afterwards they cannot 
even tell where is the dust of those that have been taken 
from them. What an instance of human love and man^s 
fugacity ! Let us hope that whatever else may be " taken 
from the French,^^ we may never imitate them in their 
cemetery management. 

The catacombs are simply old subterranean quarries stored 
with the skulls and bones of multitudes of men. When some 
of the old and well-filled cemeteries of Paris were removed to 
make way for improvements, the bones, &c., were carted away 
at night, escorted by priests and torches, and shot down in 
these extensive burrowings. Afterwards they were regularly 
arranged and packed, and these places now present the ap- 
pearance shown in the engraving. These caves were origi- 
nally precisely like those in which is practised the extra- 
ordinary system of mushroom-culture described in another 
chapter. 



112 



CHAPTEE VII. 

THE BOULEVARDS. 

Paeis is famous for its parks, its squares, and its gardens, 
but its noblest features^ and those most worthy of imitation 
in other cities^ are its magnificent open streets,, avenues, 
and roads, called boulevards. There are people who 
regard these as needless, simply created to serve the 
designs of an astute autocrat, and only possible under 
similar rule ; whereas the fact is, they are merely such 
means of communication as would be found in every city of 
the world, if cities were designed with any due regard to 
their being fitting and healthy dwelling-places for hosts 
of men. 

Parks and gardens are excellent in their way, but they 
effect only a partial good if vast areas of densely-packed 
streets are unrelieved by green open spots where whole- 
some air may obtain a vantage ground in its ceaseless work 
of removing impurities. The slight good that is effected by 
fine parks here and there in or towards the outskirts of a 
city is as nothing compared with what may be carried out 
by so planning and planting streets and roads that the air 
in which the people work and sleep may day and night be 
comparatively pure and free, and the eye refreshed with 
green at almost every point. 

Paris exhibits the noblest and most praiseworthy attempts 
yet seen to render an originally close and dirty city healthy 
and pleasant for man ; and this has been chiefly effected by 
her vast system of boulevards — wide well-made open streets 
and roads bordered with trees, and excellent footways as 
wide as many of the old streets, or wider. They do not 
simply pass through the city in one or several important 
lines, but pierce it in every direction, and are designed 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



lis 



upon a far-seeing and systematic plan^ so tliat during tlie future 
existence of the city overcrowding of its parts must become 
almost an impossibility. Many visitors who stroll along the 
fasbionable and crowded boulevards of central Paris, who see 
them running in all directions from the Arc de Triomphe and 
offering bold approaches to every important position_, may 
yet have but a meagre idea of their vast extent in the back- 
ward and less known regions of the city. The elm-bordered 
Boulevards Sebastopol and St. Michel cut through Paris 
from north to souths running miles in a straight line, and 
on their way effectually opening up the old Latin and many 
other close quarters; but beyond their outer extremities 
and between the fortifications and the central districts still 
larger boulevards sweep round_, wide enough to be planted 
with groves of trees and to permit the breeze to play freely 
through_, no matter how high and thickly the buildings may 
be raised for years to come. Immediately within the forti- 
fications there is a wide boulevard running round the city 
under various names for many miles, while from every 
circular open space — like the Place du Trone^ Place du 
Trocadero, Place d^Italie,, or Place de FEtoile — they radiate 
like a star. In fact the whole of the space within the 
fortifications is netted over by them^ and, instead of the 
outer and less frequented boulevards being narrower than 
the central ones, they are often much wider. In many 
instances these outer boulevards pass through parts but 
thinly or not at all populated^ so that the buildings to 
which the future is sure to give rise cannot encroach upon 
the space necessary for the free circulation of air and 
traffic. 

The arcliitecture that borders the boulevards in the most im- 
portant and populous districts has often been objected to, and 
with justice, as formal and not in any way attractive. But 
this cannot, except with the most thoughtless, pass for any 
objection to the creation of open, tree-embellished streets. 
The greenest and sweetest of gardens may be quickly 
rendered hideous by somebody with a taste for pottery, 
plaster, or geometrical twirlings on the ground, but this is 
clearly not the fault of the garden. The varied archi- 

I 



114 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



tecture tliat Las of recent years sprung up in many of 
our leading streets is^ with all its faults, infinitely to be 
preferred to the bald formality and monotony characteristic 
of the style adopted in the best streets of Paris. With our 
street architecture; which has improved so much; and pro- 
mises so much morC; we might, if we could only obtain 
opeu; handsome; tree-enlivened streets, eventually pro- 
duce a result of which wC; and all interested in city im- 
provement; might justly be prouder than the French are of 
their boulevards. 

How far we are behind them at present; those can tell who 
know wha-t has been done of late years in such cities as 
RoueU; LyonS; and PariS; and who are also acquainted with 
our own great; sooty; packed; and cheerless cities. Are our 
cities and towns to remain a mere agglomeration of furrows 
— ruts wbich to the over-passing bird must seem an excellent 
contrivance for preventing foul vapours to escape from the 
abode of men — or are they to receive as much attention; as 
to laying out; as is bestowed upon the surroundings of a 
suburban villa? At first sight there does not seem any 
reason why the places where men most congregate should 
be those from which all who can afibrd it escape as 
often as possible ; though; doubtlesS; in a country where the 
laws of supply and demand regulate everything and every- 
body in such a satisfactory way; and where political economy 
is so well understood; one would not have to travel far for 
reasons why things are right as they are. But judging by 
results few will deny that the disposition of our cities is a 
disgrace to any civilized race. Why; without touching at 
all upon the most crowded and filthy parts of LondoU; one 
may see more in a walk from the Strand or Fleet-street to 
the Uegent^'s Park than would suffice to make him exclaim. 
What a miserable and disheartening accompaniment of all 
our boasted progress V Such a reeking mass of mismanage- 
ment as may be found from east to west and north to 
south; the world has probably never seen ; and yet London 
is the " richest city in the world V The wealth of it; 
compared to that of such towns as Rouen or Milan, is as 
Mont Blanc to Primrose Hill ; yet either of these cities 



11 i 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



115 



would put the " centre of civilization^'' to sliame as regards 
clean and well planned streets and promenades. 

It is a city of commerce,, and we cannot afford space 
or money to remodel it^ say some ; but apart altogether 
from questions of salubrity and appearance, imagine for 
a moment bow much is lost from mere want of room 
even in our leading thoroughfares. In many cases they 
are almost impassable except to those used and com- 
pelled to force their way through them, while if the 
pressed pedestrian retires into a cab he may find himself 
brought quite to a standstill in some busy groove. Wide 
thoroughfares and free circulation would be found to agree 
as well with commerce on the banks of the Thames as on 
those of the Rhone at Lyons. All real improvements would 
result in a clear gain to the business of a city, as will 
doubtless be proved ere long by our truly worthy Thames 
embankment. But the space ? Land is too dear ! This 
is really not a great difficulty in London. There is no city 
which could be pierced with free, open roads and boule- 
vards more cheaply and readily. In its very centre there 
are acres covered by shallow brick buildings, which have 
not cost, and do not pay, nearly so much as closely-packed, 
tall, stone houses in inferior parts of Paris, that are cut 
through every day almost as freely as if they were made of 
pasteboard. Regions like that of Tottenham-court-road, 
most important and well situated for business purposes, are 
covered by the veriest shanties, which are of comparatively 
little value. In such places houses to accommodate twice 
the number of persons might be built, and lodge them far 
more comfortably than at present, while the streets might 
be as wide again, and therefore have purer air and more 
light. "Wide tree-planted avenues might lead from the 
embankment out towards the pleasingly diversified suburbs, 
and would act as veins of salubrity to the regions they 
traversed. The increase in the value of property along such 
main arteries would repay for the outlay. If land be really 
so valuable, why occupy it with such trifling and unprofitable 
buildings ? The fact is, the objection as to space, which is 
usually urged as the greatest, is no objection at all. Half 

I 2 



IIG 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



occupied and sometimes waste ground Yvitliont the margins 
of the citVj and square miles almost worse than waste within^ 
attest this. 

Of course such changes as I advocate would involve the 
adoption of the "flat^"' sj^stem^ which some say our people 
have a gTcat objection to. But that there can be no real 
objection in this is proved by the fact that it is adopted by 
a non-gi'egarious people like the Scotch^ as well as by the 
French. In houses constructed in this way_, and with all 
modern improvements and comforts never to be found in 
the miserable and fragile structures now everywhere to be 
seen_, the additional warmth and dryness which would result 
from the thicker and better buildings necessary^ could hardly 
fail to have a beneficial effect on the public healthy while 
efficient ventilation would prove a still greater aid. It is 
by no means clear that any less thorough mode of proceed- 
ing will prove a true remedy. Our narrow streets^ the want of 
anything like a generally recognised plan^ and flimsy houses^ 
are worthy only of a period when men first herded together 
for security^ and not of the Victorian era. No sprinkling 
about of disinfecting agents when danger becomes imminent^ 
or pulling down of a few shops that have protruded them- 
selves and their outhangings so far into the narrow street 
that they have become intolerable^ even to those accustomed 
to dodge through the streets of London^ will touch more 
than the surface-roots of the evil. Most of such narrow^ 
schemeless improvements as are now taking place will be 
more than counteracted by the vast growth of what even in 
Byron^s time was this enormous city^s spreading spawn.^^ 

The change must be radical ! We want a plan with the 
Thames embankment for its backbone. There is nothing to 
prevent us having the best embelhshments seen in conti- 
nental cities, minus their trees in tubs and paltrier features. 
But to have them it is indispensable that we first have 
breadth and room_, that the street traffic may circulate with- 
out abrading them away. Footways and roads, wide and 
open, are the first and greatest necessaries, and they ought 
to be planted with trees, which do better in London than in 
Paris. No fancy gardening, no expense for vases, giiffins, 



i 



4 
I 

i 



I 



i 
i 

I 

I 



1 



I 
i 

i 



THE BOrLEYAHDS. 



117 



water-squirting — notliing whatsoever of that type — sliould 
be tolerated until the pure free air be enabled to search its 
way into the heart of the tovrn^ through open verdure- 
bordered roads ; which indeed would induce it to ignore 
the boundary line that now so widely marks the difi'erence 
between town and country. 

To hope to attack the mass of disease and dirt that exists, 
without first giving men an opportunity of enjoying pure 
air and light, is in vain. These are the cheapest as well as 
the greatest of blessings j they are naturally the property 
of aU; but civilized man completely annuls them by his 
muddling and stupid arrangement of our cities. To make 
them once more the property of aU should be the aim of 
everybody who wishes well to his countiy. It should be 
one of the first and most important questions for a re- 
formed parliament.^'' For what is the use of all our present 
efibrts towards ameliorating the condition of the masses in 
our cities, if health and all its consequences be impossible in 
them ? Of none indeed, except it be in perpetuating much 
of the misery and squalidness that occur amongst us by 
ministering to them. 

The conditions complained of do not simply occur in 
central parts of London where land is very dear : far with- 
out the radius of the parks, the arrangements of streets are 
frequently quite as bad as in the poor central districts, and 
capital preparations are being made to secure a dozen years 
hence a suburban cordon of districts like St. Giles's. To 
experience the truth of this the reader has merely to walk 
from Kensington Gardens to Kew — not the most unpleasant 
stroll that could be selected in suburban London. In the 
course of his journey he wiU find in the least populated parts 
pleasant open roads, in some cases wider than a boulevard, 
and with useless spaces railed ofl", and spreads of gravel, wide 
as a princely avenue, before some low and isolated public- 
house ; but the moment he arrives at a densely populated 
part, the dead rabbits, sheep, &c., thrust out from the shops 
into the few feet of crowded footway, oblige him to dodge so 
often among the dung-carts and omnibuses of the narrow, 
crowded street that, if he has ever seen even an approach 



118 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



to a decently arranged city^ lie will be forced to admit that 
suburbs of London, miles in extent, have received less 
attention as to design than a cottager bestows upon his little 
garden, or a designer of wall-paper on his rudest patterns. 
Trom a like, or even a worse, condition our neighbours have 
been delivered by their splendid boulevards, and in a very 
short time. 

The word boulevard, or boulevart as it is frequently spelt, 
signifies in its primary sense a walk made upon the walls of 
a fortified town, of which we have so good an example in 
the ancient city of Chester : it is said to be derived from 



Fig. 44. 




Paris seven hundred years ago. 



the Low German ^' bullewerke,'' a word of similar meaning to 
our own bulwarks. Be this as it may, the Paris boulevards 
proper, extending from the Madeleine to the Bastille, 
undoubtedly occupy the site of the ancient wall built by 
Etienne Marcel and Hugues Aubriot, to resist the incursions 
of the English army which encamped round St. Denis. The 
tables have long since been turned however, and instead of 
entering Paris to plunder and slay, a huge undisciplined 
English army is constantly passing through the gates of Paris 
to be plundered by the shopkeepers, and take their chance 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



119 



of being slain by one or tbe otlier of the numberless forms of 
dissipation to be met with in that gayest of all cities. 

The first Paris boulevard was opened in 1670, in the 
reign of Louis XIY.^ and extended from the Porte St. 
Denis to the Bastille. It so pleased the Parisians that 
before the end of the following year the line was continued 
in the other direction from the Porte St. Denis to the 
Porte St. Honore, which stood across the end of the Rue 
du Paubourg St. Honore^, where that street now joins the 
Rue Royale. A year or two after,, the ancient Porte du 
Temple which stood in the boulevard of that name was 

Fig. 45. 




removed^ and the road between the Porte St. Denis and the 
Bastille levelled and repaired, thus completing the original 
line of boulevards so often celebrated both in prose and in 
verse since the days of the Grand Monarque, and which 
have preserved their prestige, as the boulevards par excel- 
lence, over all those that have been since constructed. 

The promenaders of the 17th century, on looking to the 
north of the capital, must have enjoyed an uninterrupted 
view of the open country beyond, dotted here and there 
with little villages or rich abbeys — the ancient fane of St, 
Denis lifting its grey towers in conscious superiority above 



120 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



them all. Looking souths he would see a somewhat sparsely 
populated district between him and the Louvre^ although 
the Marais to the east was gradually extending itself 
towards the fortifications. The boulevards then under 
Louis XIV., formed a long promenade some 150 feet wide^ 
and planted with rows of trees^ beneath which the Parisians 
could enjoy the double sight of the city and country in the 
midst of rural silence and quiet. The ancient buildings of 
that epoch, from the Porte St. Honore at one end to the 
castellated Bastille, have long been swept away, and nothing 
is left to remind one of the Grand Monarque but the 
Portes St. Martin and St. Louis — both heavy masses of 
classicalism — and a few names that have been bestowed on 
the neighbouring streets. 

The memory of the old fortifications is still preserved in 
the Eue Basse des Bemparts, which forms the north side 
of the Boulevard de la Madeleine. But it vfill not do to 
linger over the recollections of the past when the present 
has such pressing claims on our attention. During the 
following reigns the city gradually crept up to the boule- 
vards, absorbing numerous convents, monasteries, and noble 
domains in its progress. The Bevolution precipitated 
matters by confiscating the remaining monastic and aristo- 
cratic lands in the neighbourhood, both within and without 
the walls. The boulevards soon became the favourite 
resort of all that was noble, witty, or pretty in Paris. 
Restaurants began to lift their heads above the small guin- 
guettes that were first erected along the line, and house by 
house, tree by tree, the boulevards gradually assumed their 
present aspect. 

The boulevards, par excellence, stretch from the Made- 
leine to the Place de la Bastille ; and a ride outside an omni- 
bus from one point to the other will well afibrd a sight not 
to be witnessed in any other part of Euj-ope. The roadway 
and footpaths are more spacious than any in London. 
The latter are usually thoroughly well asphalted, shaded 
with rows of trees, and furnished with numerous seats. 
In the more fashionable portion — that between the Boule- 
vard de la Madeleine and the Porte St. Martin — nearly 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



121 



every ottier house is a restaurant^ a cafe^ or a theatre. 
Before every one of these are groups of little tables_, at 
which pleasure-seekers from all parts of the world are 
seated laughing^ talking^ smoking,, and drinking as if no 
such things as wars, revolutions, or financial panics ever 
existed. 

The boulevards of Paris are, generally speaking, so very 
much alike that to describe them in detail is needless. The 



Fig. 46. 





Avenue Tictoria, near tlie Hotel de Ville. 



illustrations will give a better idea of their actual appear- 
ance than any written description. From house to house 
they are usually, in the most frequented parts, over 100 feet 
wide, occasionally reaching between 130 and 140 feet, 
and even much wider than this in the outer boulevards, 
which are sometimes large enough for half a dozen lines of 
trees, in addition to very wide footways, and perhaps two 
minor as well as a wide central road, as in the Avenue de 



122 



THE EOULEVARDS. 



la Grande Armee. The footways of the most frequented 
boulevards are about twenty- six feet wide on each side, and 
sometimes more. 

But_, notwithstanding their general similarity^ there are a 
few distinctive enough for special mention^ and among 
these none more so than the Boulevard Richard Lenoii'^ 
which runs from the Place de la Bastille to the Rue du 
Faubourg du Temple. This often escapes observation from 
visitors^ as the Boulevard Beaumarchais drains most of the 
traffic from the Bastille to the fashionable boulevards ; but 



Fig. 47. 




l^nd view of the Boulevard Piicbard Lenoir. 



it is one of the most remarkable in Paris, and more than 
usually ornamental. It is nearly 2000 yards long_, and is 
in great part built over a canal. It v/as thought desirable 
to cover a large portion of the canal^ and to make a wide 
boulevard over this huge bridge, in order to facilitate the 
traffic and improve the appearance of the district. It 
became necessary to have ventilating and lighting shafts 
for the canal, and eighteen pairs of these openings occur 
in the course of its length. These have been ingeniously 
and tastefully hidden by eighteen little railed-in parterres. 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



12B 



In these the openings^ which are wired over^ are surrounded 
by a thick low hedge of Euonymus or some close evergreen^ 
so that no opening of any kind is exposed to the passing 
observer. In the centre of each garden there is a long 
basin and a fountain_, the whole being connected and sur- 
rounded by flowers and grass. Then on each side of these 
parterres there are very wide avenue footways^ each shaded 
by two lines of Plane trees — a road being on each side of 
the parterres and tree avenues. For a considerable distance 
from the Chateau d^Eau^ the flower-market that has its head- 
quarters held there extends down amongst the little railed- 

FiG. 48. 




Place du Trone. 



in parterres, and the effect is altogether very pretty and 
quite unique. 

Every visitor to Paris must of course have seen the 
fashionable boulevards stretching from the Madeleine to 
the Place du Chateau d^Eau, but the great outer systems 
often escape observation. On the left bank of the Seine among 
the more remarkable of the exterior boulevards are those of 
St. Jacques, d'ltalie, d'Enfer, Du Mont Parnasse, and the 
Avenue de Breteuil; on the right bank the Boulevards 
Pereire, des BatignoUes, Clichy, Eochechouart, de la 
Chapelle, and de Belleville are amongst the most important, 



124 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



tliougli_, where there are so many of great extent and 
almost similar features_, it is difficult to particularize. 

Of avenues^ the largest and most gardenesqne is the 
Avenue de Tlmperatrice^ leading from the Arc de Triomphe 
to the Bois de Boulogne. 

In order to put the centre of Paris in communication 
■with the Bois de Boulogne by means of a wide direct road^ 
an imperial decree ordered the Boute departemental leading 
from the Bond Point de TEtoile to the Porte Dauphine of 
the Bois de Boulogne^ to be straightened. Half the 
expense was borne by the State^ under the conditions that 
an iron railing of uniform design was to be constructed along 
the whole length of the road^ that a strip of eleven yards 
in breadth be left for a garden between this railing and 
the houses on each side^ and further^ that no kind of trade 
or manufacture should be carried on in the houses adjoining. 
The avenue was made entirely through private lands which 
were acquired for the purpose. Its total length is 1300 
yards ; the width 130 yards. It consists of a central drive,, 
seventeen jsnds wide^, of two large side walks^ each mea- 
suring thirteen yards wide^ and of two strips of turf planted 
with choice trees and shrubs^ including the whole of the 
species as yet naturalized in Paris^ and lastly^ of two foot- 
paths running along the side of iron railings that separate 
the houses from the road. The total cost of the avenue 
amounted to over 20^000/.^ in addition to which the city of 
Paris expended a sum of 4000Z. more on the flower-beds and 
plantations^ for the enlargement of the Auteuil railway 
bridge^ and for the general drainage of the ride. 

The Avenue de TEmpereur^ beginning at the Quai de 
Billy^ opposite the Pont de FAlma, and joining the Bois 
de Boulogne close by the Porte de la Muette^ is another 
example of the great attention and expense devoted to 
avenues and boulevards in Paris during recent years. The 
portion of the avenue between the Porte de la Muette and 
the Place du Roi de Rome was laid down in 1862. The 
part included between the Rue du Petit Pare and the Place 
du Roi de Rome necessitated considerable excavations^ many 
of them being as much as thirty-three feet in depth. Along 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



125 



the whole of this section the owners of the adjacent property 
were obliged to set apart a strip of ground, thirty- three feet 
wide, enclosed by an iron railing of uniform character, and 
laid out as a pleasure-garden. They were also forbidden to 
let out any of the premises for trading or manufacturing 
purposes. 

Fig. 49. 




Avenue de Breteuil : the artesian well of Grenelle, and the Invalides. 



The part between the Place du Eoi de Rome and the 
Quai de Billy was begun and finished in 1866. The incline 
of 27 in 1000 that was obliged to be given to this portion 
of the road also necessitated large excavations of an average 
depth of six feet between the Boulevard du Roi de Rome 
and the Place Chaillot ; whilst from this point to the Pont 
de TAlma an embankment had to be made in some places 



12G 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



thii'ty-six feet high. Between the Place de Chaillot and 
the Pont de TAlma that side of the road only which faces 
towards Chaillot will be covered with houses. The side 
looking towards the Seine^ which will form a terrace, sup- 
ported by an immense wall, will give a fine view of the 
river and the hills about Meudon. The land on which the 
terrace wall is built is formed of the allmdum of the Seine, 
which rendered the work of construction most difficult, 
owing to its want of firmness. The method which seemed 
to promise the greatest amount of safety, combined with 
economy, was to spread the pressure of the vast mass over 
a large extent of surface. For this purpose a wide area 
was formed of concrete, on which was erected a wall nearly 
of the same size. This wall was hollowed out on each side 
by large spaces, forming on the front turned towards the 
observer a series of vaults supporting a row of shrubs, 
which allowed the eye to wander through them into the 
neighbouring gardens. On the other side where the em- 
bankment had been formed there were two rows of vaults, 
in order that the weight of earth resting on them might be 
added to that of the arcade itself, so as to counterbalance the 
efiect of the tendency of the embankment to throw the wall 
outwards. 

The portion of the wall standing to the right of the 
premises that belong to the waterworks at Chaillot was too 
low to render the same method of construction necessary. 
However, in order to increase the resources of this estab- 
lishment, and to shut out from the sight of the passers-by 
the vast heaps of coal lying in the yards, the vaulting 
of the wall was continued on a smaller scale so as to form a 
footpath above and a series of coal cellars below. This part 
of the wall was surmounted by a railing covered with ivy so 
as partially to hide the yard and buildings of the water- 
works, which were somewhat awkwardly cut in two by the 
new road. This wall was built entirely in a kind of artificial 
stone formed of compressed concrete. The arcades that are 
^dsible have millstone dressings, in order as much as possible 
to vary the appearance of the wall, which is no less than 430 
yards long. The total cost of the construction of the Avenue 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



127 



de TEmpereur amoTinted to the large sum of 8.2^000/. From 
the preceding the kind of difficulties that have been over- 
come in carrying out such works in Paris of recent years 
■will be tolerably apparent. A large work might be filled 
with like details. 

Naturally the features of the boulevards which command 
most attention in this book are the trees. The advantage 
of having a full knowledge of the best boulevard and city 
trees is so great that a special chapter is devoted to them. 
It is truly surprising to see how well these are managed in 
Parisj and to what an enormous extent they are planted^ as 
well in the centre of the city^ on the boulevards^ and along 
the river, as on the scores of miles of suburban boule- 
vards, radiating avenues and roads, the sides of which one 
would think capable of supplying Paris with building 
ground for a dozen generations to come. The planting in all 
the London parks is as nothing compared to the avenue 
and boulevard planting in and around Paris. The trees are 
nearly all young, but very vigorous and promising. Every 
tree is trained and pruned so as to form a symmetrical 
straight-ascending head, with a clean stem. Every tree is 
protected by a slight cast-iron or stick basket ; it is staked 
when young, and when old if necessary, and nearly every 
tree is provided with a cast-iron grating six feet wide or so, 
which effectually prevents the ground from becoming hard 
about the trees in the most frequented thoroughfares, 
permits of any attention they may require when young, and 
of abundance of water being quickly absorbed in summer. 
The expense for these strong and wide gratings must be 
something immense, but assuredly the result that will be 
presented by the trees a few years hence will more than 
repay for all the outlay by the grateful shade and beauty 
they will afford the town in all its parts. As soon as a new 
road or boulevard is made in Paris, it is planted with trees ; 
and every one of the millions is as carefully trained and 
protected as a pet tree in an English nobleman^s park. 

The trees recently planted on the boulevards are placed 
at a uniform distance of between sixteen and eighteen 
feet. To plant so closely of course helps to furnish the 



128 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



streets with some shade almost directly ; and as the trees are 
usually trained specially for boulevard planting some little 
effect is obtained at once ; but there can be no doubt that it 
is too close a system of planting, as the trees cannot grow 
sufficiently when so much crowded. A better way would be to 
place them five or ten feet further apart, and plant, alternately 
with the trees destined to grace the boulevard eventually, 
some kind that grows very rapidly when young. This would 
help to furnish and freshen the avenue until the trees in- 
tended to permanently adorn it have been established and 
advanced a few years; and as soon as those of the free growing 
nursing kind have become large enough to deprive their 
neighbours of light they may be cut in vigorously, and finally 
removed altogether. Sometimes double ranks of trees are 
planted, but this is only wise where there are very wide 
boulevards. It is occasionally practised in avenues — like 
some of those that radiate from the Arc de Triomphe ; but 
usually it has the effect of darkening the houses too much. 
Where, as is often the case in the outer boulevards, there is 
abundant room for a double or even treble line of trees to 
develope without disagreeably shading the houses, they 
should of course be planted. The trees are usually placed 
within three and a half or four feet of the edge of the 
footway, but there can be little doubt that it would be a 
better plan to keep them a fev/ feet further from the road, 
and this would admit of giving them a larger body of soil. 
Generally in Paris they receive too little. 

Yv'hen the boulevard is marked^ out and levelled, if 
the soil is of bad quality, as is nearly always the case, 
trenches are dug in the footway, from one end of the 
boulevard to the other. The width of this trench is 
"usually about six feet, and its depth four or five; and before 
filling it in, drain pipes are laid along the sides, made 
with lapped joints so that the roots shall not enter between 
them. The trench is the-n filled with good garden earth, 
raising it a little higher than the level, so as to allow for 
settling. In this ground the trees are planted at about 
six yards apart. They should be carefully chosen, with 
perfect roots, and moderately pruned. Formerly the stem 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



129 



was cnt at about nine feet from tlie ground ; but tbis bad tbe 
bad effect of preventing tbe top of tbe tree from being 
straigbtj and tbe practice bas been given np. Tbe ti'ees 
are next staked and tied witb ^rire ov<er a neat ^rad of 
straw^ wbicb prevents all injmy to tbe stem. A protecting 
cage^ neitber beavr nor very expensive^ is placed round tbe 
tree to prevent accidents ; and if tbe weatber be at all diy 
at tbe time of planting,, tbe trees are copiously watered. As 
for tbe making of tbe roads and streets^ it is admirable, 
as many readers may bave learnt for tbemselves. T\'Tien 
tbe repairing or making a road in Paris is finisbed, tbe sur- 
face is as level and crisp as tbe broad walk in tbe Regent^s 
Park, so tbat tbe borses are spared mucb pain, and car- 
riage movement greatly facilitated. Stones of about tbe 
same size as we spread on tbe roads are tbrown down, and 
tben comes tbe beavy steam or borse-drawn roller, making 
but a sligbt impression at first, as migbt be expected, and 
indeed it bas to be passed over many times before tbe work 
is completed. All tbe time, or nearly all tbe time tbat 
tbis rolling is going on, a man stands at tbe side of tbe 
footway in cbarge of a bose on little wbeels, and keeps 
swisbing tbe stones witb water, wbile otbers sbake a little 
rougb sand on tbem between tbe rollings ; and so tbey wasb 
and roll and grind day and nigbt — tbe result being tbat tbe 
Parisian roads are as comfortable for locomotion as could 
be desired. But it would be a mistake to suppose tbat 
tbeir system of road-making is otberwise superior to ours. 
If we took tbe trouble to grind down tbe rougb and sbarp 
stones used in repairing tbe streets, tbere would be little 
to complain of as regards tbe texture of our roads ; and it 
would probably be impossible to find more perfect examples 
of roads tban tbose in Hyde Park since tbe introduction 
of tbe steam rollers. 

It is not an uncommon impression among us, tbat since 
bis access to power tbe Emperor bas most industriously 
employed bimself in remo^'ing all tbe paving stones from 
Paris, so tbat tbey may not be used against bim in case of 
an insurrection. Tbis is an error ; for, altbougb tbe wretcbed 
old system of paving is being done away witb — greatly to 

K 



130 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



the relief of the ears of the inhabitants of the streets in 
which it existed — ^nearly all the important new boulevards 
have a considerable breadth on each side well paved for 
heavy waggon transit. This prevents the larger mac- 
adamized portion in the centre from being cut up by the 
heavy traffic of Parisian streets^ and leaves it free for 
carriages and the lighter kinds of traffic. In some of the 
older and narrower streets^ in which there is not very much 
traffic^ asphalte has taken the place of paving stones — mak- 
ing a road that is almost noiseless ; but its chief use is in 
the formation of the wide and excellent footways that 
border all the new streets and boulevards. 

Asphalte has long been used in Paris for two reasons : 
first;, the supply of good paving stone^ similar in quality to 
our York stone^ is scarce^ and the few quarries that do 
yield it are far distant from the capital ; and secondly,, the 
peculiar bituminous sandstone from which the asphalte 
pavement is made^ is cheap and abundant. 

Bad attempts at laying asphalte produce such very dis- 
agreeable results that the very name must be dreadful to 
some people ; but in a sloppy climate the advantage of 
having in all weathers dry^ smooth^ and permanent footways^ 
instead of cloggy^ saturated gravel or mud^ is so great that 
some account of the best system of laying this material 
cannot fail to be useful. Some years ago asphalte pro- 
duced a regular industrial fever^ and pavements were made 
in all directions in Paris and London^ of any mateinal that 
at all resembled it. Gas tar^ wood tar^ pitch, and ail sorts 
of nastiness were ground up with stone, and laid down with- 
out proper preparation ; the consequence of which was that 
a large number of failures took place, and asphalte pave- 
ments (at least in this country) were very soon completely 
tabooed by all good architects. 

Bituminous limestone occurs naturally in many parts of 
the world, notably at Val de Travers, in the canton of 
Neufchatel, Switzerland, and at Pyrimont, near Seyssel, a 
small town in the department of Ain, on the right bank of 
the Bhone. The asphalte rock from Pyrimont consists of 
pure limestone impregnated with about 10 per cent, of fossil 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



131 



or natural bitumen. It may be asked bow it is tbat ordi- 
nary tar or pitcb of good quality mixed witb pounded lime- 
stone does not answer the purpose of this natural combina- 
tion; but it is found by experiment tbat^ although natural 
bitumen diflPers but slightly in chemical composition from 
pitch and tar^ it is much more elastic and durable. If made 
with tar, the resulting asphalte is sticky and soft in hot 
weather ; if with pitch it is too brittle, and soon cracks and 
splits. 

In the natural asphaltic rock the bitumen is so intimately 
combined with the calcareous matter, that it not only resists 
the action of the air and water for a considerable time, but 
even that of some of the strong mineral acids. The ancients 
were in the constant habit of using natural bitumen instead 
of mortar ; and there is a tradition that the stones of the 
Tower of Babel were cemented together with the same ma- 
terial as that forming the footways of the boulevards. The 
principal ingredients used in forming the mastic for the 
pavement is the dark brown bituminous limestone from 
Pyrimont, just described. The stone is first reduced to fine 
powder, and then mixed with a certain proportion of mineral 
bitumen, extracted previously from another portion of it. 

When it is intended to be used for covering roofs, lining 
tanks, &c., no other addition is necessary ; but if it is to be 
used for paving, a certain quantity of sea-grit is added. 
One specimen analysed by an English chemist yielded 29 of 
bitumen, 52 of limestone, and 19 of siliceous sand. The 
ingredients are exposed for some hours to a strong heat in 
large cauldrons, and kept constantly stirred by machinery. 
The mastic thus formed is made into blocks, measuring 
eighteen inches square by six inches deep, and weighing 
from 1121b. to 1301b. each. In this state they are sold 
ready for use, and are remelted on the spot where the 
asphalte has to be applied ; for which purpose small portable 
furnaces fitted with cauldrons are employed. A pound 
weight of mineral bitumen is first put into the cauldron, and 
when melted 561b. of the mastic are added, the whole being 
repeatedly stirred. When fully mixed, another 561b. of 
mastic are stirred in, and so on until the cauldron is full. 

K 2 



132 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



When thorouglily melted — wliicli may be told by the mastic 
dropping freely off the stirrer^ and by jets of light smoke 
darting out of the mixture — it is conveyed quickly to the 
spot where it is to be used^ in heated iron buckets or 
ladles. The cauldron ought to be as close to the work as 
possible^ and in covering brick arches it should be hoisted 
to the top of the building. It must be clearly understood 
that the only kind of bitumen to be used is that impreg- 
nating the limestone itself. 

In forming foot or carriage ways it is most important to 
secure a good foundation by removing or ramming the soft 
earthy and laying a course of concrete,, care being taken to 
allow the whole to dry before putting down the asphalt e. 
If this precaution is not attended to, the heat wiU convert 
the moisture in the concrete into steam^ and fill the asphalte 
full of airholes and bubbles. The thickness of the layer of 
asphalte may be regulated by slips of wood arranged across 
the pavement at a distance of 30 inches from each other — a 
width quite sufficient for one man to work at at a time. If 
two men are employed, double the width may be taken, as 
it is always better to have as few joints as possible. The 
work is levelled with a long curved wooden spatula, assisted 
by a long straight ruler, which stretches across the layer of 
asphalte, over which it is moved backwards and forwards, 
the wooden gauges supporting its ends. If the surface is 
intended to be smooth, a mixture of equal parts of silver 
sand and slate dust or plaster of Paris is sifted over it before 
it has quite set, and rubbed down with a flat tool of wood. 
If it is required to be rough, sharp grit is to be beaten in 
with a heavy wooden block. One portion of the pavement 
being complete, it is best to proceed to lay the next but 
one, leaving the intermediate space to be filled up after- 
wards, when the first layer is firm and cold, so as to insure 
a good joint. 

The thickness of asphalte for footways varies from 
half an inch to an inch and a quarter, the former being 
sufficient for common floors and courtyards, the latter for 
carriage pavements. A thickness of from half an inch to 
five-eighths is sufficient for roofs and the coverings of arches. 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



133 



and for lining tanks and ponds, and about half an inch for 
the ground line of brickwork to prevent the damp from 
rising. An asphalted surface admits of easy repair. By 
placing hot mastic on the places requiring it, the faulty 
part may be cut away and the edges cut square, when the 
hot material will be found to adhere to them if they are 
perfectly free from damp or moisture. 

The great secret, then, in obtaining a perfect layer of 
asphalte paving, dry, hard, elastic, warm, and durable, is 
first to employ only the natural material, such as that from 
Pyrimont-Seyssel ; and secondly, to provide a firm, dry sub- 
stratum of concrete for it to rest upon. For pavements, 
terraces, &c., nothing can be better. It is always warm 
and elastic to the tread; there are no joints to encourage 
the accumulation of filth or the growth of weeds ; and in 
case of rain it dries in a few minutes. As laid down by 
the Seyssel Asphalte Company, its durability is immense. 
The whole of the quadrangle in Ti^afalgar-square has been 
laid with asphalte since 1863, and yet there is no sign 
of wear upon it, in spite of the enormous trafiic. The 
terrace at Bridge water House is also an excellent specimen. 
If the reader desires to see a really bad example, he has 
only to examine the pavements of some of the metropolitan 
stations of the Midland Bailway to see what badly-laid 
asphalte made of improper materials is capable of be- 
coming, in the course of even a few months. 

For roadways and carriage drives asphalte does not seem 
so applicable. In dry weather it is all well enough, but 
after rain, more especially if there is any mud about, it 
becomes disagreeably slippery both for horses and foot pas- 
sengers. For laying between the courses of brickwork to 
prevent the damp from rising, it is unequalled, a layer, even 
only one quarter of an inch thick, keeping all damp down 
most eflPectually. It is especially fitted for this purpose in 
the case of boat houses built by the sides of rivers or lakes. 
For ornamental ponds and banks it is also excellent, but it 
should be roughened for, say, a foot in depth, so as to hold 
sufficient soil or mud to grow water plants and weeds, and 
so entirely conceal its existence. As to its cost; in England 



134 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



it is somewliere about lOd. per superficial foot for quan- 
tities not less than 700 feet. For roofs and terraces to 
the same extent^ the cost would be about 2d, extra. 

During the last few years the preparation of the asphalte 
in Paris has been much improved. Some years ago^, when 
a pavement was to be made with bitumen, a great nuisance 
was experienced by the public during the operation. The 
mastic was liquefied on the spot, and produced a nasty 
smell and smoke, disagreeable and injurious ; but now some 
of these inconveniences have been done away with by a new 
system, and asphalte is now laid down in the most expedi- 
tious manner. It is prepared first in out-of-the-way places 
devoted to the purpose, and the matter, ready for use and 
liquefied, may be transported from these places to any 
parts of the town without the least inconvenience in a semi- 
cylindrical boiler, closed by iron doors, and moved about on 
iron wheels as freely as a common cart. Under the boiler 
is a fireplace, and the blaze^ after having heated the two 
sides of the boiler, passes out by a chimney placed at the 
back of the machine. Means to keep the mastic in motion, 
and prevent its burning by adhering to the sides of the 
boiler, are secured by a simple mechanism easily worked 
with the hand. These carriage boilers, full of liquid asphalte, 
are driven from place to place with the greatest facility. 
The boiler is emptied by the means of a pipe fiixed to its 
bottom, and the mastic is collected in a pail, and spread 
on the surface to the thickness of three-quarters of an inch. 

If the surface is not perfectly dry, the drying must be 
accelerated with hot ashes, which are to be taken away 
afterwards, or with a little spreading of quicklime in 
powder. These operations are indispensable, as if the 
mastic were laid on before the surface is dry, the heat 
of it would dispel in steam the water underneath, 
and that steam would produce blisters in the asphalte, 
which would crack under the pressure of the feet, and 
endanger the success of the operation. The workmen 
place on the platform two iron bars of the same thickness 
as the asphalte is to be, equally distanced from each other ; 
it is then laid down in a very warm state, and thick 



THE BOULEVARDS. 



135 



enougli to require some slight exertion of the operator to 
make it level. This operation done^ a small quantity of 
fine gravel mnst be spread over the asphalte while hot^ and 
slightly beaten down to penetrate in it. This gives a 
greater hardness and solidity to the footway, and insures 
its lasting for a very long time. 

The roads before spoken of are made of the powdered 
and not liquid asphalte. The sm-face of the roadway must 
be beaten down very hard, and covered with a thickness of 
about three inches of concrete, well beaten down and dry. 
If the dryness is very necessary in the making of a pave- 
ment, this condition is of a greater importance for the road, 
as, if the powder were spread on a wet surface, the steam 
caused by the heat would produce a great number of little 
fissures, the elasticity would be destroyed, and the road 
would be useless after a few months^ use. The concrete well 
dried, the powder (hot) must be spread about three inches 
thick ; and then well levelled and beaten. The sides must 
be done first, and pressed down with a rectangular iron 
pestle eight or nine inches in length and two or two and 
a half inches in width. When the sides are done, proceed 
with the middle. The pestles used in pressing it are made 
of cast-iron, circular, and about eight inches in diameter. 
The pestles of either form are heated and used quite hot, so 
as to compress the asphalte into a hard smooth mass. 

When the crust of asphalte is brought to the thickness 
required, and is sufficiently smoothed and beaten hard, they 
spread with a sieve a little quantity of very fine powder to 
fill all the unevenness, and again smooth the whole with a 
flat piece of hot iron. The compression is completed by the 
employment of two cast-iron rollers, one of 40001b. weight 
and the other of 30001b. Sometimes three of these rollers 
are employed, the intermediate one being about 15001b. or 
16001b. in weight. This rolling is not always necessary, and 
in many cases the beating down with pestles is sufficient. 
The roads thus made, completely noiseless and lasting a long 
time, have been adopted with the greatest success by the city 
of Paris, and are supplanting the paving stones, macadamiz- 
ing, and other pavements, in narrow streets where there is 



186 



BATHING. 



not mucli traffic. Some beautiful smootli roads througli 
the Luxembourg gardens bave been made of this powdered 
aspbalte, and without the use of heavy rollers^ the hot 
smoothing irons only being used. 

Bathing. — With the boulevards one naturally associates 
the quays^ planted in every available spot with trees, and in 
Paris the public swimming baths are all on the silent boule- 
vard. However^ the Seine at Paris is not a noble river, and 
the ugliest things to be seen from its banks in summer are 
the floating baths, which in some places half cover its surface. 
But public bathing is a matter of the highest importance, and 



Fig. 50. 




Interior of floating bath on the Seine. 



it is perhaps better to have floating baths on the river than 
tolerate the astounding exhibition of naked humanity which 
may be witnessed on the Serpentine on any warm summer 
evening. My friend Mr. Gibson, of Battersea Park, thinks 
these floating baths would be a desirable improvement on 
our river, and from its size they need not produce such an 
ugly effect as at Paris. With a clean river, a constant cur- 
rent of fresh water is a great advantage of these baths ; and 
then they are not costly, and are closed in from public view. 
But whatever may be thought upon this point, it is certain 
that there is no question connected with the healthful exer- 



BATHING. 



137 



cise of the people that has been more neglected than that 
of public bathing. 

Everybody knows with what alacrity the cockney '^^takes to 
the water''"' in summer^ although indeed he can, as a rule, only 
do so under great difficulties. The pluck that must be re- 
quired to venture to bathe amid such an assemblage as that in 
Hyde Park must be of itself considerable, and yet the enor- 
mous crowds that practise it here show us to what an extent 
decent cleanly bathing would be taken advantage of by the 
working population of London. If it were provided it would 
prove one of the greatest boons that could be conferred on 
them ; and surely no great good could be so cheaply effected 
as that of providing proper bathing-places in all our parks 
and open spaces. The benefit to be got by the regular 
practice of bathing by our working me a during the summer 
months could not be equalled by any other exercise or 
recreation. It is a good of which the advantages have not 
to be pointed out to the people ; and every one of our parks 
offers capital positions, in which inexpensive bathing-places 
might be made. Bathing-places should always be intro- 
duced in a quiet and somewhat retired part of a park or 
public garden. They should be surrounded by plantations 
sufficient to thoroughly conceal the bathing from all but the 
bathers. They should be made of a convenient depth for swim- 
ming purposes, and, above all things, should have a clean level 
bottom ; for a sticky, muddy bottom, such as is likely to occur 
in some places about London, is very objectionable ; and in 
making a swimming pond it would not be difficult to provide 
against this. They should be surrounded by a diversified 
plantation of trees and shrubs, with the taller growing sub- 
jects kept somewhat back, and with an inner edge of dense 
dwarf shrubs. The free-growing and smoke- enduring ever- 
greens, such as Box and Aucuba, should be extensively 
used around these bathing-places, which should also have a 
very wide marginal walk of clean gravel, and long seats in 
recesses of the shrubbery borders. 

It would be an excellent plan if roomy sheds were also 
erected near the water''s edge, but slightly thrown back and 
concealed by vegetation. These might be well utilized in 



138 



BATHING. 



the winter as a working place for the park men^ or any 
other labourers employed about. In it they could make 
broomS; prepare wood^ paint hurdles^ make labels and pegs, 
and many other things that are in constant use. Of course 
this should only be done in bad weather. In all places 
where a number of workmen are employed in winter, there 
is generally a difficulty in providing men with work unless 
there are large sheds : such to the sagacious manager prove 
a great boon. They might also be advantageously used as 
winter storehouses for seats, boats, and other things which 
must be used in our recreation grounds, if we are to alFord 
the people sufficient amusement and attraction therein. 
But their chief use would be in making it possible for 
people to bathe at all times. How many summer, spring, 
and autumn days are there on which bathing would be a 
delight, but when showers of rain forbid it in the open air ! 
Of course men cannot strip and bathe and then get into 
wet clothes ; and, like other exercises, bathing, if not 
regularly practised, is not productive of much good. Those 
sheds would aflPord a place where the clothes could be kept 
dry, and then rain, light or heavy, would not produce any 
difference — a swim would be as enjoyable in the heaviest 
of rains as at any other time. Partial bathing, such as that 
practised in the Serpentine during the mornings and even- 
ings, merely meets the wants of a few persistent morning 
bathers, and a host of the roughest of the great unwashed 
in the hot summer evenings. 



139 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE JARDIN FLEUKISTE AND OTHER PUBLIC NURSERIES OF 
THE CITY OF PARIS. 

In its public nurseries Paris possesses a very useful aid 
which we have not in this country. With us each park or 
garden produces or purchases its own supplies ; in Paris all 
the gardens of the city are furnished from its nurseries. It 
should be observed that in Paris there are two sets of 
public gardens — those of the city comprising the boulevards, 
squares, parks, church gardens, and so on, and those of the 
State, the gardens of the Luxembourg, Tuileries, &c. All are 
equally open to the public — all arranged with a view to its 
pleasure and convenience ; but in the case of the State 
gardens each supplies its own stock. What we have to 
deal with now is the manufactory, so to speak, for the vast 
array of gardens and open spaces made during recent years. 
At one time the old State gardens were by far the most 
important in Paris ; now they are quite eclipsed by those 
created specially for the city and its people, and not 
merely as the surroundings of a palace or the pleasure- 
gardens of princes. Considering that the whole is of such 
recent growth, the success of the arrangements is surprising. 
In commencing to improve the town by means of public 
gardens, there can be no doubt that it was a wise step to 
begin with central nurseries or plant manufactories, from 
whence all those gardens could be supplied. 

The advantage of having public nurseries of this kind to 
supply the parks, gardens, and squares of a great city are 
so great, that it is surprising they have not been already 
adopted with us. Not only could the necessary trees, 
shrubs, and flowers be procured much more cheaply, but a 
far greater selection of choice subjects would be at the 



]40 



THE JARDIN FLEURISTE AND OTHEU 



disposal of tlie planters. By selecting ground favourable to 
each class of plants^ shrubs^ or trees,, the whole of the sub- 
jects in that particular section could be grown to as gi^eat 
perfection as by any nurseryman — could be produced at a 
far cheaper rate than they could be bought ; and the 
necessity of searching for, bargaining, and selecting would 
be done away with, the planter having merely to indicate 
the subjects required. They could be quickly despatched 
to any given point in vans constructed for the pm'pose. In 
addition to these advantages, a small portion of each nursery 
might be devoted to an experimental ground to test newly 
introduced or imperfectly known plants ; and in this respect 
each would be of valuable aid, not only to the State, but 
also to the general public. With our parks and crown 
lands in which to select positions, the establishment of such 
gardens would not be expensive, and would in a very few 
years save the first cost of their construction. Om- large 
nurserymen would feel a pleasure in contributing their 
novelties and rarities, as they now do to our botanic gardens, 
and a system of exchange might be arranged between them 
to the advantage of both public, private, and commercial 
establishments. 

The present system is too bad to last. We have, in and 
around London and our other great cities, numerous public 
parks and gardens, and it is to be hoped their number will go 
on increasing from year to year. Let us suppose that the 
superintendent or designer of a new public park or garden 
wants many thousand trees and shrubs for its embellishment. 
He has to obtain them wherever he can, and as the nurseries 
are arranged chiefly or solely for private use, most probably 
there will be great difficulty in getting some things even at 
a high rate. For example, a very important item in town 
gardening consists of trees for park and avenue planting. If 
at the present moment we wished to plant an avenue of 
Plane trees, of suitable size and properly prepared for the 
purpose, we should no doubt have to send to the Continent 
for them, as in our own nurseries they are not prepared for 
street planting; in which case they would cost much more 
than if bought in this country, and be in far worse condition 



PUBLIC NURSERIES OF THE CITY OF PARIS. 141 



for tlie purpose than if they had been grown at home. The 
Planes recently placed on the Thames embankment have 
been imported from the Continent^ and of course there 
would not have been the slightest occasion for this if we 
possessed the kind of establishment I suggest^ and of which 
the necessity must be seen by every reader. In Paris there 
is a great central establishment at Passy where all the 
tender plants are grown and increased^ and there are 
nurseries specially devoted to the production of city trees 
and shrubs^ in which the most suitable kinds are grown, 
and grown exactly to the size and shape in which they are 
best suited for being placed on the boulevards, or in the 
parks or gardens. The cost of each plant or tree is in this 
case a mere trifle ; in our own the plantation of even a very 
small park, or one boulevard, would amount to a very con- 
siderable sum. To pay a guinea apiece for specimens that 
we could produce for a few shillings, and a shilling or two 
each for common stuff that we could grow for a few pence, 
is to follow a plan whereby our public gardening, and con- 
sequently the health and beauty of our cities, are con- 
siderably retarded. 

The Jardin Fleuriste of the city of Paris is situated in 
the Avenue d^Eylau, close to the Porte de la Muette, 
leading to the principal promenade of the Bois de Boulogne, 
and should be seen by every visitor interested either in 
public or private gardening. It is the depot for all the 
tender plants used in the decoration of the parks, gar- 
dens, and squares of the city. Entering from the Avenue 
d'Eylau, the first objects of interest that meet the eye are 
collections of handsome plants growing in the open air on 
a small lawn amidst the glass-houses with which the place 
is nearly covered. My object is not to describe the garden 
in detail, but simply here as elsewhere to point out its 
most instructive features. To me the most interesting and 
valuable group planted on this lawn is a number of hardy 
Bamboos, proving clearly that in our latitudes we may 
enjoy the peculiar grace and verdure of these giant grasses, 
and by planting them highly improve the appearance of our 
gardens and pleasure-grounds, especially in places under the 



142 



THE JARDIN rLEURISTE AND OTHER 



mild influeiices of the sea and in the west and south of 
England and Ireland. As the family is alluded to in another 
chapter, I will say no more of it here. 

On the grass here during the past summer might be seen 
one of the most magnificent of all pea flowers, Clianthus 
Dampieri, flowering very freely in the open air, although 
we find it so difficult to grow even in our greenhouses. It 
was sown in February and planted out early in June as a 
tuft of several plants, isolated on the grass, but rooted in 
peat soil. The shoots grew to more than two feet in length, 
and began to unfold gorgeous blooms at their apex about 
the beginning of August, continuing to do so till the com- 
mencement of October. As an isolated group upon the 
grass, I need not say it was very fine ; and I believe the same 
success could be obtained in mild parts of this country, and 
in many places against the low, warm walls of glass houses, 
&c. It should be raised as a greenhouse annual and planted 
out about the first week in June in peaty soil. Some may 
not be aware that it is infinitely more beautiful than the old 
brilliant and popular C. puniceus, though, unlike that, diffi- 
cult to cultivate and impatient under the most skilful treat- 
ment in houses. There are usually many fine groups of 
Yuccas, Musas, Cannas, various new plants, and other ob- 
jects of interest on this little lawn which will well repay a 
careful examination. The most remarkable of the novelties 
of the past season was Dimorplianthus manchuricus, a re- 
markably handsome plant, reminding one of Aralia japonica. 
A plant of it a few inches high put out at Passy in July, 1868, 
had leaves a yard long and thirty-four inches across by the 
middle of September. It will prove of the highest value in 
the ornamental garden. 

The first great group of glass houses are span-roofed. The 
interior an'angements made in them for the convenience of 
the workmen and for the preservation of the plants in winter 
are most admirable, and should be adopted by us in all similar 
instances. We build more hot-houses than any other people, 
construct them better, and furnish them better; and therefore 
it is desirable that in disposing them in relation to each 
other we should employ the most economical and convenient 



PUBLIC NURSERIES OF THE CITY OF PARIS. 143 



plan. Everybody knows how often they are scattered 
about without any connexion with each other, and the con- 
sequent additional expense and trouble. But_, even where 
the errors of the scattering system are guarded against, 
there is seldom an effective means of communicating from 
one to the other without going in the open air. We all 
know how disagreeable it is to pass from a moist stove 
to frosty air — from wet gusts to damp greenhouses ; it is 
dangerous to tender plants that often have to undergo it 
unclothed ; nor can it be otherwise than injurious to the 



Fm. 51. 




Glass-covered corridor between the plant-houses in the Jardin Fleuriste. 



health of those employed in such structures. All these 
inconveniences are got rid of by the very simple plan 
adopted in the case of the group of houses, the arrange- 
ment of which the following diagram may serve to explain. 
The plant houses diverge on each side of a glass-covered 
passage, and there is no necessity for taking the plants into 
the open air in winter, or for the men who work in the 
houses to undergo any change of temperature for hours at 
a time. The houses are so closely arranged together, that 
heating them becomes much less difficult than when they 
are separated. The advantages of the plan are so great 
that I should strongly advise everybody building a batch 



144 THE JARDIN FLEDRISTE AND OTHER 



of houses for growing or storing plants to adopt no other. 
For graperies with the borders outside it would not be so 
suitable ; but where good borders are made inside it would 
answer well; or the vineries or peach-houses might form 
the outer four houses of each blocks leaving the plant- 
houseS;, forcing-housesj &c._, inside. 



Fig. 52. 



HOUSE FOR YOUNG PLANTS 
RECENTLY ROOTED. 



PELARGONIUM HOUSE. 



SOLANUM HOUSE. 



BEGONIA HOUSE. 



PROPAGATING HOUSE. 



PELARGONIUM HOUSE. 



CALADIUM AND ARUM HOUSE. 



MIXED COLLECTION HOUSE. 



Plan showing the arrangement of glass houses in the Jardin Fleuriste. 



Plants may be grouped in the passage, where narrow, in 
half-oval groups between each door. In large places, where 
money is not an object, and where the houses on each side 
would be filled with very ornamental specimen plants, it 
would be a capital plan to make the central passage as wide 
as one of the houses. Beds may be placed between the 
doors, in winter garden fashion, and climbers run up the 
roof, thus converting the passage into a most agreeable 
promenade. With the better kinds of climbers depending 
from the roof ; a few belts of Oranges and Camellias, 
and some palms and fine-leaved plants here and there, 
to lend the scene grace and character, I can fancy 
nothing more agreeable in the way of winter garden 
or conservatory, particularly as the varied contents of 
the houses on each side could be seen through the glass 



PUBLIC NURSERIES OF THE CITY OF PARIS. 145 



ends and doors from the promenade. A wide gutter sejDarates 
the roof of one house from that of its fellow — forming a 
passage along which men can freely move to arrange shading, 
ventilation^ or repairs. It will be seen at a glance that easy 
communication between all parts of the range is secured,, 
that the plants just rooted in the propagating house have 
merely to be carried across the passage to the house devoted 
to their fui'ther de- 
velopment. The plan 
is capable of adap- 
tation in various ways, 
to houses either large 
or small. 

One of the houses in 
the block just referred 
to is the largest and 
most perfect propagat- 
ing house I have ever 
seen — being more than 
eighty feet long and 
twenty-four feet wide. 
From this house im- 
mense quantities of 
plants are turned out 
in the course of a year, 
many of them being 
large-leaved Ficuses and 
plants that are difficult 
to strike, as well as Be- 
gonias, bedding and 
free - rooting plants. 
It contains three cen- 
tral and two side beds ; 
the central pits are 
well elevated, and every 
space is in active work, 
the whole presenting a 
most imposing array of 
large bell-glasses. 




146 



THE JARDIN FLEURISTE AND OTHER 



Fig. 54. 



The propagating which seemed most successful^ is carried 

out on a difierent plan to ours. 
No pans are used in this house, 
but very small pots, a shade 
larger than a thimble : in each 
a cutting is placed, the little 
pots are placed in the tan, and 
covered with large circular bell- 
glasses, as shown by fig. 55. 
The greater part of the house is 
occupied with these, all being of 
the same size. But there are 
some special arrangements for 
propagating the more difficult 
subjects, and among them may be noticed what appeared 
to be an improvement — the bell-glasses, which are somewhat 
of the ordinary shape, being provided 
with an aperture at the top of about 
two inches in diameter, into which 
a piece of sponge is squeezed to 
absorb the moisture from the inside. 
Nothing could be more business- 
like than the arrangements for pro- 




Propagating pot used in the 
Jardin Fleuriste : full size. 



Fig. 55. 




Small cutting-pots under 
bell glass. 



pagating in this house. We will 



next glance at a few of the more re- 
markable collections and structures. 

Imagine yourself prepared to visit a propagating establish- 
ment, and then finding yourself ushered into a grand con- 
servatory of Camellias — a second being in connexion with it 
filled with Aralias, Yuccas, Beaucarneas, tree ferns, Nicotianas, 
Dasylirions, Dracjenas, and a host of such plants, all in fine 
condition and well arranged ; and another, on the other side, 
containing healthy palms in vast numbers. These are 
arranged in three longitudinal beds, while all along the 
sides of the house is a belt of the smaller and younger 
kinds, plunged in tan to give them a little encouragement. 
To look along the pathway between these long beds is 
like glancing into a fresh young tropical palm grove, in such 
perfect health are the plants. When it is considered that 



PUBLIC NURSERIES OF THE CITY OE PARIS. 147 



Fig. 56. 



many otlier great houses are in the garden, besides a large 
field of pits and frames, the reader will agree that it would 
be out of the question to examine each subject, particularly 
when it is stated that there are nearly 400 kinds of palms 
alone in this establishment. Though it is essentially a 
business garden, and one in which an almost innume- 
rable host of plants have to be annually developed, no 
slovenliness of arrangement or culture is apparent in any 
part. 

Seldom indeed do we see such efficient economy of space 
in gardens as is the rule in these houses. Under the benches 
are packed quantities of Caladiums, Fuchsias, Cannas, and 
other plants that may be efficiently preserved in such places 
in winter ; and even after the great Arums, &c., are potted 
off in spring, they are placed underneath for a short time, 
every available inch being taken advantage 
of. Some of the houses are large lean-to^s, 
and instead of the back wall being left naked, 
or with one shelf placed against it at the 
top, there is a series of shelves one above 
another, six altogether, and on these a 
multitude of plants are accommodated — 
Coleuses, &c., in the warm houses ; Lan- 
tanas, and the like, in the cool. They 
keep well on these during the winter, and, 
if drawn a little or discoloured, the mischief 
is soon counteracted by a sojourn of a few 
weeks in the frames in spring. In the large 
span-roofed curvilinear houses, with a nar- 
row passage through the centre, there is 
a series of shelves affixed to irons on each 
side of the central pathway, and on these 
great numbers of plants are stored, so that 
every space is taken advantage of without 
in the slightest degree interfering with the 
health of the plants, which is truly admira- 
ble. But doubtless it is necessary thus to 
economize space, for the enormous number 
of nearly three million of plants is annually furnished by this 

L 2 



Shelves for storing 
bedding plants along 
the central passages 
of the span-roofed 
houses in the Jardin 
Fleuriste. 



14S 



THE JARDIN FLEURISTE AND OTHER 



establishment for tlie embellisliment of Paris and its environs. 
They are raised at a very cheap rate — less than a penny each. 
It should be observed that many of the plants are snch as 
would be fit to embellish any exhibition^ numbers of them 
being palms and fine-leaved plants, while of course the least 
valuable are simply bedding plants, from Nierembergias to 
Pelargoniums, of which last 400,000 plants are sent out 
annually. 

If neither houses nor plants were seen, the potting-shed 
would tell of extraordinary operations, for in the centre 
there is a great wide bench, around which sixty men can 
work. Ordinary bedding plants are kept here in an un- 
usually economical manner. A large space of ground 
is covered by parallel lines of rough and rather shallow 
small wooden frames, simply and cheaply made — in fact, 
such as the rudest workmen could put together during 
wet weather. The frames are rather closely placed ; and the 
pathways between, and indeed all the spaces around them, 
are filled up with leaves and mossy rakings from the ad- 
jacent Bois de Boulogne. These are nearly or quite piled 
up to the edge of the frames, and of course keep the plants 
warm through the winter. In winter the floor of the 
frames is low ; in spring, by putting in a quantity of the 
well consolidated leafy stufi" before named, it is raised so 
as to bring the foliage of the plants right up to the glass. 
All the material is removed from between the frames in 
summer. Many of these frames are furnished with iron 
sashes, so that only the rough cheap framework is exposed 
to the decaying influences of the weather. The large 
quantity of leaves and moss thus decomposed is preserved 
for potting purposes, making of course excellent leaf-mould. 

A number of houses that have lately been erected at La 
Muette materially encroach upon the space occupied by 
the rough framing just alluded to, which they are destined 
eventually to replace. These houses are especially intended 
for bedding plants, and are so well adapted for that end 
that some details about them may be useful. They have 
been designed on an excellent plan for the culture of such 
plants, the raising of seedlings, and for the growth of seed- 



PUBLIC NURSERIES OF THE CITY OF PARIS. 149 





ling palms,, and all dwarf and young plants. I liave seen 
a good many houses devoted to similar 
purposes in public, private, or commercial 
gardens in all parts of these islands, but 
never any so well- arranged as those in 
the Jardin Fleuriste. They are low, 
and rather narrow, so that all operations 
may be conducted from the central path- 
way. The sashes are cheaply made of 
thin iron, and the roof consists of one 
sash at each side. Many of the iron 
sashes of the old frames were utilized 
in the building of the houses. 

As you pass along by the ends of 
these plant houses you may see a bench 
about a hundred feet long, filled com- t 
pletely wirh the deeply dyed Alternan- ^ 
theras — a sheet of colour ; the next ^ 
devoted to young palms, as green and 
vigorous as if in their native wilds ; 
another devoted to young Dracaenas and 
fine-leaved plants generally; and so on. 
The benches are of slate, and the plants 
are held well up to the glass, while 
quantities of subjects in the way of Cannas 
and Dahlias may be stored beneath, as 
shown in the engraving. We generally 
prefer wooden houses, but any horticultu- 
rist who has seen the plants in this low 
range at Passy will agree with me that 
no plants could be in finer health or 
condition ; while the very permanent 
nature of the structure is a great gain, inasmuch as a 
wooden series of the same character would require a com- 
plete overhaul in the course of a dozen, and perhaps recon- 
struction at the end of twenty years. 

A mode of protecting these houses from frost by means of 
wooden shutters, each about the size of the sash of the house, 
is deserving of notice. As will be seen by the engraving, 





ii 



150 



THE JARDIN FLEURISTE AND OTHER 



Fig. 58. 



the gutters^ strongly lined with zinc^ are wide, so that men 
can run along them with the greatest ease to protect or 
shade the houses. The shutters are not taken from between 
the houses every day_, but simply left in piles of ten or so 
over some unoccupied spot, or if the range happens to be 
completely filled; each pile is shifted every day so as to 
prevent the plants beneath from suffering. The facility 
and simplicity with which these houses may_, in a few mi- 
nuteS; be thus encased in wood to meet a very severe 
frost; and without the least untidiness of any kind, are 
admirable. However, matters are so arranged in the 
houses that they could dispense entirely with this pre- 
caution, which is noticed merely from its adaptability to 
many places where a great number of bedding plants have 

to be kept, and 
where the means 
of heating suffi- 
ciently to keep 
out very severe 
frosts are not 
forthcoming. The 
ground plan of 
the range is 
nearly the same 
as that already 
described, so that 
the men at work in any of the eighteen houses of the 
block already completed, may pass and convey plants from 
one to the other without passing tkrough the open air. 
Thus the comfort of the men and the health of the plant 
are both secured. Already nine houses are arranged on 
each side of the central passage, and it is proposed to 
continue the arrangement till all the ground previously 
devoted to framing is covered with this class of house. The 
visitor, entering at the outer end and continuing his way 
through any of the houses, would at its further end meet 
with the covered way running at right angles to it, through 
which he could enter any of the other houses he wished to 
see without again exposing himself or opening any doors to 



ACE 

— 1 i 



Portion of ground plan of the bedding-plant houses in 
the Jardin Fleuriste. 



PUBLIC NURSERIES OF THE CITY OF PARIS. 151 



chiU the plants in winter, or running tlie dranglity gauntlet, 
as he usually has to do where houses are arranged in 
the ordinary scattered way. Moreover, as in many cases, 
one long house is devoted to a particular species or variety 
in much request, the visitor or superintendents may see the 
state of the stock by simply traversing the central passage, 
and looking through the glass dividing it from the houses. 

But though the ordinary dwarf bedding plants are pre- 
served in vast quantities both in the rough frames and the 
houses, these are not the cheapest ways in which they manage 
such things here, as we shall presently see. Many have 
heard of the graceful use made of the Cannas in Parisian 
gardening. These are preserved in a most efficient way in 
caves under the garden. ^^Tien the stone is taken out of 
the ground for building purposes, a rough propping column 
is left here and there, and thus dark and spacious caves of 
equable temperature are left underground. They are in 
this case about seven feet high, and are used for storing 
plants that may be well preserved without light in the 
winter. You descend by a sloping tan-covered passage, 
and most likely you will imagine yourself in a large potato 
store immediately you get down, as heaps of different kinds 
of Canna, and those that are by no means common with us, 
are in winter spread upon the floor a yard or more deep, 
and twenty feet long. The tubers of some of the large 
varieties are from five to ten inches long, and the men 
turn them over just as they would the contents of a series 
of potato-pits. 

Here too in wide masses against the wall are arrayed 
quantities of Aralia papyrifera, the handsome and much 
grown species so useful for subtropical gardening. It 
seems in a perfectly firm and safe condition, growing in 
this dark or rather gas-lighted atmosphere, and sends out 
long blanched leaves of a delicate lemon colour, which will 
of course soon acquire a healthy green when the plants are 
placed in the open air. Thus they preserve Aralia papy- 
rifera in all sizes, and this fine thing is turned out for 
garden embellishment almost as cheap as wall-flowers. Of 
course analogous protection could be given to such things 



152 



THE JARDIN FLEIJRISTE AND OTHER 



in many English gardens where space may be limited,, and 
much expense out of the question. In these caves were 
also preserved Brugmansias, American and other Agaves^ 
Dahlias^ Fuchsias, &c., and it seemed to me about the best 
possible place for storing such plants. 

The quantities in which you see rare things and new 
bedding plants here are surprising. Houses, eighty and a 
hundred feet long, are filled with one variety ; and others of 
equal size are devoted to the raising of seedling palms, &c., 



Fig. 59. 




Caves uiuler the Jardin Fleuriste, used for storing large quantities of tender 
plants in winter. 



in large quantities. If a plant be considered worthy of 
attention at all it is propagated by the thousand ; 30,000 
being the opening quantity for a new thing of any promise. 
During the past autumn 50,000 cuttings of one kind of 
Fuchsia were inserted in one week. Dracaenas are 
grown here more abundantly than variegated Pelargoniums 
in many a large English bedding garden, and the Jardin 
Fleuriste is believed to possess the finest collection of them 
in existence. In one house a specimen of each kind has 
been recently planted out for trial in the central pit, and 



PUBLIC NURSERIES OF THE CITY OF PARIS. 153 



among them are many handsome kinds worthy of extensive 
use with us. 

It is a favourite plan here to devote a house to a special 
subject. Thus there is a large and fine span-roofed stove 
for Ficuses ; a house for the collection of Bananas, 
with a line of thirty healthy plants of Musa Ensete 
fomiing its backbone, so to speak ; a very large and high 
curvilinear stove for the great collection of Solanums ; 
special houses for Arums, Caladiums, &c. ; and a winter 
garden about 120 feet long by 40 wide, well stored with a 
healthy stock of the usual conservatory plants, with here 
and there fine-leaved things like Phormium tenax, a very 
eff'ective plant when well grown in pots and tubs, and of 
which they have here thousands of plants of various sizes. 
Of course all this vast collection cannot be and is not used 
for summer decoration. It is employed for the decoration 
of the Hotel de Yille, where 10,000 plants are sometimes 
required upon a single occasion. The boilers of some of the 
smaller houses are heated by gas, and in this way a very 
equable temperature is preserved. 

It may give some approximate idea of the collection, 
when it is stated that there are in cultivation nearly twenty 
species of Banana, about fifty kinds of Aralia, forty of 
Anthurium, fifteen of Pothos, thirty of Philodendron, nearly 
one hundred and twenty of Canna, eighteen of Zamia, and 
more than one hundred and ten of Ficus, while families 
better known and more popular are counted by hundreds ! 

Although the place is chiefly devoted to tender plants, 
and most of the dwarf hardy subjects are grown in the 
nursery in the Bois de Yincennes, there is, nevertheless, 
some interest taken in hardy plants, seeing that a part of 
the garden is devoted to one of the most extensive col- 
lections of Tulips in existence. 

It is a regular practice in this and other new public 
gardens in France to plant out a sample of their stock of 
tender flower-garden plants each year for comparison. In 
the parks, squares, &c., they of course have opportunities of 
seeing how they thrive, but the object is to test them all 
growing on the one spot and under the same conditions. Thus, 



154 



THE JARDIN FLEURISTE. 



you see all the kinds of Canna planted out in one place^, all 
the varieties of Pelargonium in another, and so on. It is 
a good practice, but it is needless to repeat it year after 
year to a large extent. If you have thirty species of 
Solanum planted out for several seasons in succession, you 
must know all that you want to know respecting their com- 
parative value, and the practice here of planting out every 
year old kinds time after time is useless. All that is ne- 
cessary is to test the new additions, and in some cases it 
may be desirable to plant the old ones by them for com- 
parison, but to plant out annually a vast collection from a 
well-known family is quite unnecessary. 

Large, light, and well-made spring vans are used for 
transporting the stock of flowers from the Jardin Tleuriste 
to the parks and gardens, and from one nursery to the other. 
They are about twelve feet long, and a little over six feet 
wide. By a simple arrangement each van is made to do 
the work of two — a second floor of strong shutters, hinged 
two and two together, being placed at the height of a foot 
above the lower floor of the van. The shorter plants are 
stowed underneath, those on the upper floor may be as tall 
as you like ; but as the stock removed in this way usually 
consists of dwarf subjects, one serves as well as the other. 
By means of this plan 2000 plants, each in single pots, are 
removed at a time. The contrivance is merely such as 
common sense would suggest ; yet for want of a little such 
common sense how much labour is wasted ! How frequently, 
for example, do we see in country places two men attached 
to a handbarrow dragging about plants ! Of course it is 
as unnecessary as it is laborious for the men. There is often 
more fuss and labour over transporting the summer flowers 
of a country place from the propagating houses to the flower- 
garden than occurs with the several millions of plants fur- 
nished yearly by the city of Paris, and all for the want of a 
few simply-contrived spring barrows. Not to adopt simple faci- 
lities ofthis kindin our public gardens is sheer mismanagement. 

There are also vans of peculiar make for conveying orna- 
mental plants to the Hotel de Ville. Those used in winter 
are furnished with a little stove with flat hot-water pipes 



THE PUBLIC NURSERIES FOR TREES, SHRUBS, ETC. 155 



passing round the interior^ so that, wliile space is not cur- 
tailed^ the van is efficiently heated, and tender plants can 
be conveyed by it in safety in the depth of winter. 

Students of all nations are admitted to this establishment. 
They must be eighteen years of age, and must have spent 
some time in practical horticulture. Their pay is sixty francs 
per month during the first three months, seventy during 
the second, and after that eighty or eighty-five francs per 
month, after which they are paid according to capacity 
and intelligence. They are changed from section to section 
of the establishment, so as to study with profit each kind 
of culture. An extensive botanical library has lately been 
added for the use of the officers and students of this establish- 
ment, and is now being catalogued and arranged. It con- 
tains nearly all the standard English books on horticulture ; 
indeed quite half the books are English. 

Attached to the Jardin Fleuriste are a forge, a carpenter^s 
shop, a glazier^s and painter^s shop, stables, and other offices. 
These are of course indispensable where economy is ne- 
cessary ; and saving money is a consideration even for the 
city of Paris at present. The mode of glazing with several 
strips of lead-paper laid one over the other, as practised 
here, is too expensive to be recommended : it costs as much 
as the glass itself, and after all peels off after a time. It is 
known as the couvre-joint metallique of Celard, 16, Rue du 
Faubourg du Temple. 

The Public Nurseries for Trees, Shrubs, and Hardy 
Flowers. — The nursery for trees for the boulevards is situated 
at Petit Bry, near Nogent-sur-Marne — a somewhat out-of- 
the-way place. The nearest railway station to the nursery 
is that of Nogent-sur-Marne, on the Strasbourg line. It 
consists of nearly forty -five acres, entirely devoted to the 
raising of the commoner and more useful kinds of trees for 
avenue and boulevard planting. On entering it the first 
peculiarity that strikes the visitor is, that the whole of the 
surface of the ground is thrown into ridges nearly six 
feet in width, on the apex of which the trees are planted. 
This arrangement is adopted in consequence of the ground 
being occasionally flooded by the river MarnCj which is close 



156 



THE PUBLIC NURSEEIES FOR 



by;,and the trees being injured by the water being frozen above 
the base of their stems. But the necessity of taking this 
precaution resulted in an advantage^ as the trees being 
planted on the apex of these ridges^ and with the collar of 
each^ say^ a foot above the levels, make their roots much 
nearer home^ so to speak^ and thus their transplanting is 
rendered much more easy. When the time comes for re- 
moving them the workmen begin at one end and turn them 
out quite rapidly, all with close bundles of roots. The whole 
surface of the nursery is thus treated. The trees are a little 
more than a yard apart in the lines, which are, as may be 
inferred from what was before said, within a few inches of 
six feet from each other. 

The kinds mostly used are the Western Plane, the Horse- 
chestnut, the large-leaved Elm, the Ailantus glandulosa, 
Planeras, and Lombardy poplars — the last, however, are not 
used for avenue or street planting. Other kinds used 
on a smaller scale than these — the Paulownia, for example, 
are grown at Longchamps. These trees, the names of 
which are put down in the order of their importance, are 
all trained straight, and sent from hence to the boulevards 
for planting as far as possible of an equal size. The rule is 
to send them out with a clean stem nearly ten feet high, 
and about eight inches in circumference. The portion above 
the ten feet of clear stem is not of so much consequence 
and may vary, but if the trees when taken up for planting 
do not present the length of clean stem considered neces- 
sary, the lower branches are cut away till it is attained. 
Of course the trees are so pruned when young that straight- 
ness of stem is obtained. To arrive at the necessary size 
and fitness the Plane requires five years, the Horse-chestnut 
ten, the Ailantus four, the Elm and Planera about five 
years each. The Elm and Planera are the only trees that 
require support in training them into the necessary form, 
for which purpose stakes from fifteen to eighteen feet high 
are used. The whole place is surrounded by a hedge of 
Tamarix tetrandra, which is cut down occasionally, and the 
shoots sent to the Jardin Fleuriste for stakes for house 
plants and the like. This nursery is well kept and managed^ 
and has a large stock of street trees. 



TRKES, SHKUBS, AND HARDY FLOWERS. 



157 



The nursery for shrubs is very pleasantly situated near 
the racecourse of Longchamps in the Bois de Boulogne^ 
and is somewhat more than twelve acres in extent. I 
found it in excellent keeping, and with a good stock both of 
well-known and rarely used subjects. Boses and all kinds 
of shrubs and hardy climbers are grown here, as well as 
nearly every description of low tree. The superin- 
tendent considered the Caucasian Laurel (Cerasus cau- 
casius) the hardiest and best of any he had tried. There 
were good stocks of those fine hardy Aralias — spinosa and 
japonica : they should be everywhere employed for the 
sake of their large and handsome leaves. A good many 
subjects were out for trial as to their hardiness, among 
them an extensive collection of Japanese plants. Melia 
Azederach was in a healthy condition after passing a sharp 
winter in the open air. From this nursery all the shrubs of 
the various parks, squares, and gardens of the town are sup- 
plied. 

The nursery for herbaceous plants is situated in the Bois 
de Vincennes, and consists of nearly twenty acres of sandy 
ground just outside the fortifications, near the Porte Picpus 
and Lac Daumesnil. There were here, at the time of my 
visit, five or six acres of Chrysanthemums, prepared for 
bedding in the various parks as soon as the frost had cleared 
them of their summer occupants. There were also large 
stocks of the flowers used to replace the Chrysanthe- 
mum and decorate the gardens in spring. The stock of 
spring flowers is an unvaried one, and leaves much to be 
desired. Where there is so much ground devoted to a 
specialty it ought to be well done ; and it will be a pity 
if with so much improvement in other ways a large stock 
of all the really ornamental hardy flowers is not formed. 
The public gardens cannot fail to have a great influence on 
all visitors to Paris, and it would be conferring a very general 
benefit if, instead of depending so much on plants requiring 
expensive stoves and ceaseless trouble for their preservation, 
the chief gardeners of the city showed what may be done 
with the hardy plants belonging to our own and similar 
climates. At present their collections of herbaceous plants 



158 THE PUBLIC NURSERIES FOR TREES, SHRUBS, ETC. 



and spring flowers consist of quantities of common and not 
always first-class kinds. They have, for instance^ very few 
Tritomas in the Vincennes Nursery, and none at all in the 
parks, though they are perhaps the most useful and attrac- 
tive of all autumn flowers. It is, however, only fair to state 
that the nursery stock was killed in the winter of 1867. 
But when groups of these plants are established in the parks 
or gardens there should be little difficulty in preserving 
them by placing leaves over the roots in winter. 

The nursery for the Pines and Rhododendrons is also in 
the Bois de Boulogne, near Auteuil, occupying somewhere 
about the same space as the one previously described. The 
climate of Paris is not so favourable to the growth of coni- 
ferous trees as that of England, and consequently to the Eng- 
lish visitor the Auteuil garden does not look so attractive as 
that at Longchamps, but it is well stocked, and serves its pur- 
pose admirably. The American plants are mostly grown in 
the slight shade afforded by thin hedges of Arborvitse. The 
ivy used for making the edgings, which are so much admired 
in Paris gardens, and for every other purpose for which the 
plant is employed, is grown here. Cuttings are first put in 
in handfuls, so close that the stems touch each other. After 
a year or so they are transferred singly into four or six-inch 
pots, and plunged below the rims into the sandy soil. They 
are used for forming the edgings at the age of two or three 
years. Galvanized wire is extensively used here for the pur- 
pose of supporting plants that are usually staked. Stretched 
tightly in parallel lines at about the height the line of plants 
requires it forms a neater, handier, and cheaper support than 
ordinary wooden stakes^ which are so liable to decay and 
shake about. 



159 



CHAPTER IX. 

TREES FOR CITY PARKS, AVENUES, GARDENS, STREETS^ ETC. 

It is a very popular but utterly erroneous notion to suppose 
that trees will not succeed in London/^ On the Continent 
people are accustomed to see wide open streets and road- 
ways embellislied with trees that are properly planted, well 
cared for and flourishing. They naturally at once compare 
these verdant avenues with our own streets, in which trees 
are never planted at all, or where, if they are, no care is taken 
of them, and at once jump to the conclusion that there is 
"something in the air.^'' If you tell them that trees 
may be grown better in London than in Paris they 
will stare at you in incredulous amazement ; but such 
is nevertheless the fact. In August last a correspondent of 
the Pall Mall Gazette wrote several letters to that journal 
against planting trees in London, the following extract from 
which aff'ords an excellent example of the notions almost 
universally held upon this subject. 

" When people propose to decorate London, the first con- 
sideration should be what will suit the climate. It cannot 
be too often repeated that our city atmosphere is fatally 
inimical to delicacy of architecture, and quite equally so to 
delicacy of vegetation. Our skies will rain soot continually, 
and moisture therewithal to make the soot adhere ; the soot 
will insinuate itself amidst fairy tracery of stone, and clog the 
pores of beautiful trees and shrubs ; and it is an utter waste of 
art and money to disregard these inevitable conditions of the 
question. It is very childish to tickle our fancy by providing 
for a momentary admiration of things which a short time will 
make hideous, and then, when the inevitable has taken 
place, contenting ourselves with a shrug of the shoulders 
and ' what a pity V Few young trees will really flourish 



160 



TREES FOR CITY PARKS, AVENUES, 



in the climate of our modern London ; the case was perhaps 
different some years ago. But from any general planting 
of trees in London, especially in leading thoroughfares, 
howcA^er wide, I cannot expect agreeable results. I cannot 
dismiss from my mind that mournful spectacle I have so 
often witnessed with depressed spirits, all through the after- 
summer (as Germans call it) and the autumn, of gloomy 
civic avenues, every trunk black and filthy, with all its fur- 
rows closrged with soot, the branches showing symptoms of 
speedy decay, the scanty withered foliage distilling a drizzle 
of mingled smoke and moisture. — Misodendros.''^ 

These opinions are as erroneous as they are emphatic ; 
yet it is not to be wondered at that similar ones are enter- 
tained by the general public, when we find those who ought 
to know equally ignorant on the subject. Not long ago, 
I was walking up Regent Street with a landscape gardener 
who had mostly worked in pure air, and he almost ridiculed 
my statement that trees could be grown in perfect health 
and beauty in London. I felt it was useless to argue with 
him, but remembering the splendid Planes in Berkeley Square, 
a few minutes enabled me, through his own eyes, to cure 
him for ever of the erroneous opinion that trees cannot be 
gi'own well in London. It is the custom in Paris and 
other continental cities to plant trees with care, to provide 
them with good soil, to spend a great deal of money in attend- 
ing to them and watering them, and yet neither in all Paris, 
nor in any continental city with which I am acquainted, can 
such noble examples as these be found. 

But some may say. An open square at the West-end of town 
may do that which the smoky, densely-packed city will not. 
If these persons, who are evidently not yet acquainted with 
Stationers^ Hall Court, will inquire for that narrow enclosure 
the next time they are passing near Paternoster Bow — or 
St. PauFs Cathedral, to select a more conspicuous land- 
mark — they will find in it a noble Plane tree looking as 
happy as if it were in its native forest. It grows in what 
to a tree is practically a brick well, and yet to stand under 
it in summer and look up the bole towards the top of the 
treCj is to get a glimpse of tree-beauty of the most refreshing 



GARDENS, STREETS, ETC. 



161 



kind. I could point out to friend " Misodendros " numerous 
places in the heart of London where trees flourish in the 
most satisfactory "wayc It must be borne in mind, how- 
ever, that everything depends upon the kind of tree selected 
for the purpose ; for even our best landscape gardeners make 
a sad mistake by obstinately persisting in planting ever- 
greens, which as a class are totally unfit for town cultiva- 
tion. Even when moderately healthy these trees are 
generally so coated with smut that they entirely lack that 
polished and refreshing verdure which is so characteristic of 
evergreens grown in fresh and pure air. 

In winter the atmosphere of London, and of many of our 
great cities and towns, is contaminated by certain minute 
bodies vulgarly termed " blacks. They belong neither to 
the vegetable nor to the animal kingdom, but they exercise 
a powerful influence on the former, for they are deadly 
enemies to all breathing surfaces ; and though they have not 
caused civil war and bloodshed like their human name- 
sakes, yet if the tale of death were carefully summed, 
no doubt our " natives^^ would head the fatal list by 
a long way. How then fares it with the vegetation sub- 
jected to their pernicious influence ? Thousands of expiring 
and leafless shrubs furnish a rejjly. The once handsome 
and healthy Araucarias planted in front of Tattersall's at 
Knightsbridge, and now draped with filth and soot; the 
young pines and evergreens planted annually in the 
Eegent^s Park Botanic Gardens, only to dwindle and die ; the 
handsome Hollies, Yews, and other shrubs planted in the 
new avenue gardens in the same park ; the fine and costly 
evergreens in the Hoyal Horticultural Gardens at Ken- 
sington when it was first laid out, — these and many other 
cases that I could enumerate, were it necessary, answer the 
question, and tell the same tale of how they were deprived of 
life by the vile atmosphere. 

Not so with the deciduous tree or shrub ; nor with those 
beautiful rosaceous bushes which are the glory of the grove 
in all temperate climes. After summer^s " fitful fever they 
sleep well,'''' and when people return to town,^'' and the 
flues begin to vomit forth poison and smut, they cast away 

M 



162 



TREES FOR CITY PARKS, AVENUES, 



the leaA^es that have done their work_, and with them the 
filth of the year ; and^ so to speak^ retiring within themselves 
they remain till the winter is past_, safer from deadly vapours 
than the Esquimaux in his snow-hut is from cold. The 
consequence is^ they grow nearly as well in London as in 
the country. When the fires begin to go out in spring, 
and the air of towns becomes more free from evil humours_, 
they burst out into leaf and beauty — clouds of light_, fresh, 
budding green. \^Tiat sight on earth can surpass the 
bursting into leaf of deciduous trees in temperate and 
northern climes ? We should see few things more beautiful, 
nothing more magical, even if it were possible to pass high 
over earth, like the swallow in its migration from the wolfish 
north, with its pines and weird heaths, to the south with its 
Vines and Oranges, and to the tropics with its Palms and 
giant Bamboos. No charm of tropical or other climes sur- 
passes the freshness and joy of an English spring. Why 
then should we not take advantage of the fact, and make 
our city springs more English still, by developing chiefly 
those plants which flourish as well in towns as out of 
them, instead of everlastingly purchasing evergreens which 
are doomed to perish sooner or later? I have repeatedly 
noticed that Peaches, Almonds^ the double Cherries^ and 
the numerous exquisite trees and shrubs allied to them, 
flourish and attain the same perfect shape in towns and 
cities that they do in the country, while beside them valu- 
able evergreens are but the ghosts of what evergreens 
should be. 

Supposing for a moment that evergreen trees and shmbs 
throve as well within city influences as deciduous ones do, 
it would even then be a questionable practice to use them 
extensively, because they do not gladden us with that floral 
beauty which deciduous trees are wont to put on; their 
verdure in the parks and open spaces goes for little in 
winter, as at that time people seldom frequent these places. 
They do not keep time with our suns and seasons ; and they 
are not so beautiful, because not so changeful, as the de- 
ciduous kinds. They do not flower or fruit conspicuously, 
as many deciduous plants do^ and they tend to preserve a 



GARDENS, STREETS, ETC. 163 

disagreeable moisture round us in winter, wMcli we are cer- 
tainly better without. 

I am certain that if the expense and trouble taken to 
plant evergreens in cities were devoted to the best of our 
deciduous trees and shrubs, a beauty would result to which 
towns are at present strangers. Even in parks and places 



Fia. 60. 




Sophora japonica var. pendula. One of the many deciduous trees of which the 
wintry aspect is preferable to that presented by smutty and half-dead " ever- 
greens." 

where one would be led to expect a tolerable display of fine 
flowering deciduous trees, the shrubbery vegetation is so in- 
tolerably poor and monotonous — so devoid of variety and 
interest — that it is not surprising that town planters fall 
back on evergreens and plant little else round their churches 
and in their squares. A fine double Cherry, pyramidal in 
outline, and hung with snowy bouquets, seen against one of 

M 2 



164 TREES FOR CITY PARKS, AVENUES, GARDENS, ETC. 



our dark churclies, would be more beautiful than all the 
evergreens within four miles of Charing Cross, and yet it is 
only one out of a host of flowering trees belonging to 
temperate or northern climes, nearly all of them far more 
presentable objects even when leafless than the debilitated 
soot-varnished " evergreens^^ which we now select for town 
planting. Even the Pear and Apple and the Hawthorn 
families would furnish a grand array of beauty ; but any one 
who examines the list of our deciduous trees and shrubs, 
from the tall Acacias to the dwarf early-opening Daphnes, 
may find a selection which, judiciously arranged, would 
create a greater attraction in town gardens than has yet 
been seen. All who know the amount of beauty to be 
found among deciduous trees will have no difficulty in 
imagining how attractive our parks could be made by taste- 
fully grouping and cultivating other flowering trees of equal 
or nearly equal merit. All those mentioned above thrive 
well on the London clay, and indeed the same is true of the 
majority of deciduous shrubs. It would be a great benefit to 
city gardening if landscape gardeners were to be cooped up 
in town for a few weeks in the dead of winter, instead of 
being permitted to run about the pleasant country : they 
might then consider our wants more than they do. Mean- 
time, I strongly advise city planters to pay nearly all attention 
to deciduous vegetation, promising them that their eflforts 
will not be thrown away, as they too often are at present. 
They would then find that planting trees is not a " sheer waste 
of art and money,^'' but one of the most praiseworthy modes 
of rendering our great unwholesome and ugly human hives 
healthy, habitable, and cheerful. 

Although so deficient in street trees proper, one of the 
best and most distinctive features of the suburbs of our 
English cities is that resulting from the practice of placing 
little gardens between the house and the road : it is the 
absence of these which gives such a hard, uninviting, and, 
to an English eye, hungry look to the unplanjted streets of 
many towns on the Continent. Although the space is small, 
a line of trees is usually planted immediately inside the 
wall; which line sometimes acts as a screen^ but is generally 



A SELECTION OE THE BEST TREES, ETC., FOR CITIES. 165 

ineffective for that purpose. Considering the space at our 
disposal^ and the fact that strong-growing trees prevent_, to 
a great extent,, smaller, more useful, and prettier subjects 
from being grown in these gardens, the right method to 
adopt would be never to plant anything stronger in them 
than dwarf trees. We certainly have a considerable gain 
in the large number of streets and suburban roads, where 
little gardens run along in front of the houses, affording 
greater breadth^ and a little repose between the house and 
its inmates and the hard and dusty street. It is a pity, 
however, that when neighbourhoods become populous, 
crowded shops are built upon these gardens, additional 
rooms being eventually placed over them, thus narrowing 
instead of widening the street at the very time when more 
space is required for increased traffic. The Marylebone-road 
is an example of this kind. 

The street gardens of London, and our other large cities, 
are true British institutions which I hope will never become 
unpopular ; but go on increasing in favour. The follow- 
ing selection of city trees has therefore been made with a 
view to their improvement, as well as to the requirements 
of street or boulevard planting, in which branch continental 
cities are now before us. 

A selection of the best trees and shrubs for cities. 

The best of all trees for European cities is the Western 
Plane (Platanus occidentalis). I have seen it in many 
places in towns, from the heart of the city of London to 
the shores of the lakes of Northern Italy ; in the town 
gardens of central France, in the fine old cities in La 
Belle Touraine, and in Anjou, where the Camellia and 
Azalea grow luxuriantly in the open air; in Brittany, 
where the glossy evergreen Magnolia becomes a tree 
bearing huge waxen flowers as big as plates; in the nume- 
rous new boulevards of Paris ; and everywhere it is by far 
the noblest city tree ; but in no place are there finer indi- 
vidual specimens of it than in London, although receiving 
no such attention as they do elsewhere. 



166 



A SELECTION OF THE BEST TREES 



Looking for a moment at the Plane in a wild and culti- 
vated state in tlie pure air^ we find it second to none. It 
possesses the hardiness of a North American Indian, and 
the massive and noble port of " Daniel Boon^ backwoods- 
man, of Kentucky/^ Found in a wild state over a vast 
portion of the North American continent, in its fullest per- 
fection, along the great rivers which fall into Chesapeake 
Bay, and in the fertile valleys of the West, — where it is 
constantly found to be the loftiest tree of the United 
States, it becomes one of the noblest trees in British 
parks and woods^ and reminds us of its native land of great 
trees, rivers, woods, and prairies. Fairly and roundly de- 
veloped specimens have in summer almost the grace of a 
weeping tree. In winter the branches retain this character, 
but also present a rugged Gothic picturesqueness, which 
makes them highly agreeable to look upon, while the pendulous 
seed-vessels and striking column-like bole add to their at- 
tractions in the wintry season, when the trees are at rest 
and safe from the evil effects of smoke. To these advan- 
tages may be added the one that large specimens may be 
transplanted with safety — a very desirable point in a city 
tree. I could point to many parts of London where what 
is here stated of the advantages of this tree could be seen 
in a moment — from north-western squares near smoky 
King's Cross, to the western and southern parts of town, 
with a drier soil and better air, and even to the very heart 
of the city, where it appears to do as well as anywhere else. 

As we are now almost commencing street and city garden- 
ing it is most desirable that we should have no failures — that 
things of this kind should be done so as to satisfy all. Places 
like the Thames Embankment should command the finest 
tree : 

" We needs must love the noblest when we see it," 

says Tennyson ; and amongst town trees it must be the Plane. 
I can imagine nothing more calculated to bring town- garden- 
ing into disrepute than such a specimen of planting as that in 
the Mall in St. Jameses Park. Had the Plane been planted 
there it would have made a noble avenue — the Elm now 
forms a miserable one. 



AND SHUUBS TOR CITIES. 



167 



Next to the Plane^ tlie Horse-cliestnut seems to offer tlie 
greatest advantages. It has not indeed the stature and 
beauty of frame of the Plane,, nor does it attain as large a 
size and as perfect health in cities, but it possesses great 
claims from its fine foliage^, large sweet silvery spikes of 
bloom^ and proved capacity of growing well as a town tree, 
even where the ground is hard and root-room scarce. If 
Paris is seen to greatest advantage when her groves of 
this tree are piled up with little pyramids of flowers, 
what might we not expect from the fact that it does even 
betterwith us? The avenue of Horse-chestnuts in theRegent^s 
Park is a case in point. In Paris daring the past year they 
lost their leaves rather early and became too rusty to be 
agreeable to the eye ; but on coming to London at the 
beginning of August I found them in a green and healthy 
state after one of the most trying summers we have ever 
had. While selecting picturesque trees for towns that are 
not liable to suffer from disease or insect pests, we must 
also encourage variety as much as possible. The Horse- 
chestnut would be worth growing for the sake of its foliage 
alone, but when the additional charm of its superb in- 
florescence is taken into account there can be no hesita- 
tion in placing it among the most eligible of town trees. 

The common Robinia or Locust tree has been so long and 
extensively tried that we need have no more doubt about it. 
It will never justify the reputation that Cobbett gave it, but 
I know of no tree which maintains such a depth of sweet 
verdure and freshness by the sides of the dustiest roads and 
in the most unlikely places. No drought seems to touch 
it ; no heat renders it rusty-looking or fatigued. Few other 
trees stood the heat of the summer of 1868 so well, and 
after the drought was ended it looked as if it had just passed 
through a showery month of June. It is worthy of being 
much more extensively used as a park and square tree ; it is 
also good for street use, not growing too large, and is the 
best of all known trees for planting in the front of a suburban 
house or villa, or in any position where a pleasant object is 
required to refresh the eye at all times. Compared to the 
Lime which is so often planted before London houses, it is 
as gold to pe,wter. 



! 



168 A SELECTION OF THE BEST TREES. : 

At first sight there seems little reason why the somewhat j 

despised and. roughly treated Robinia^ or Acacia, as it is | 

sometimes called, should come in after such stately and \ 

noble trees as the Plane and the Chestnut ; but, taking the ] 
varieties as well as the original tree into consideration, I 

have no hesitation in giving it this rank, knowing it to be ■ 

as well adapted for the smallest town garden as for the \ 

largest public park. Naturally it is not such a strong- ; 

growing tree as the Lime_, while it may be cut in to keep it ; 

neater than it usually grows. j 

To many lines of suburban houses a thin line of trees is ^ 

a great improvement, and forms the only species of garden ( 
embellishment of which they are capable. The qualities 
necessary in such trees are perfect hardiness, healthy con- 
stitution, and size and habits suited to the positions for which 

we require them. I know of no tree that combines these ; 
better than the spineless round-headed variety of the 
Robinia (R. inermis), and it is a very elegant object all 

through the season. It is, to be sure, somewhat dearer i 

than the Lime and such trees; but the difference in 1 
appearance is such that nobody would refuse the difference 
in money, even for the improved appearance of the trees 

during a single year. It is usually grafted on straight ,' 

stems, six feet to eight feet high, which support the " 

umbrella-like heads and their mass of graceful, healthy j 

green leaves. With a little cutting in now and then, they | 
never become an inch too high. 

Perhaps the most beautiful and appropriate city trees 
I have ever seen are those formed by the round-headed 

Robinias in the cities of Northern Italy ; their grace, dense I 

and grateful shade, and deep verdure being perfect. I ^ 

measured several thirty feet in diameter of head, and with j 

a bole a foot or more through, the heads being picturesque ! 

and somewhat irregular from age, while preserving their j 

compactness and valuable shading properties. It would be i 

impossible to find a greater advance upon the hideous lines ] 

of clipped Limes so common in France than is presented i 

by these trees at Novara and other cities and towns in • 

North Italy. But as we have no proof that as good a i 

• ■ j 

1 



AND SHEUBS FOR CITIES. 



169 



result could be obtained in our Englisb streets^ we must turn 
to tbose trees that we bave already tested thoroughly . 

We will next deal with the Lime, its bad and not its good 
qualities placing it so high in my list; for, while planted 
more abundantly than any other city tree_, it is by far the 
worst that I am acquainted with, and the extensive use of 
it in our streets is the most blameworthy of bad practices in 
either town or country planting. I am speaking of the 
aspect of the tree as displayed in cities. I have seen the 
tall lines of Lime trees in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris 
fall into the sere and yellow leaf before one had time to 
admire the pleasing soft green which they display when their 
leaf blades are first rolled out ; and on coming back to 
London^ at the end of July, 1868^ I found the Limes 
the most miserable and mangy-looking trees anywhere to 
be seen. And all this in the midst of the summer when 
we are most oppressed with heat ! The withered, burnt, 
insect-covered leaves rustle lifeless upon the trees, hoarsely 
whispering the death of the year in our ears before we have 
half enjoyed the summer. In many cases they have perished 
prematm-ely and unnaturally, and have even lost the power 
to fall off the tree, but remain rustling on the branches,, 
giving the ear as well as the eye a foretaste of winter three 
or four months before the proper time. 

Can anything be more unwise than to persist in planting 
such a tree as largely as we do when there are dozens of de- 
ciduous trees that will do all that a Lime does at the best of 
timeSj and that present no such objectionable features as those 
alluded to at that season when a tree ought to be full of 
life and beauty ? Our winter, the period when our deciduous 
trees must be devoid of leaves, is long enough without 
making it needlessly so by lining every street with the 
Lime. In the parks this tree may sometimes be planted, 
but never in streets^ qiiays, or boulevards. Apart from its 
presenting a diseased appearance for more than half the time 
that it ought to be full of green life, the Lime grows much 
too large for the little front gardens where it is so abun- 
dantly employed, and will soon keep away from the house 
it is planted to adorn a large portion of the light and sun 



170 



A SELECTION OF THE BEST TREES 



that we grumble so miicli at being deprived of. If, in order 
to obviate tbis, we cut it in periodically, it becomes an 
object tbat eveiy person of taste should abhor and cut down 
as soon as possible, to say nothing of the labour and ex- 
pense of this periodical mutilation. And all this is in face 
of the fact that we have several handsome trees that do 
infinitely better and without clipping. In many cases in 
towns it would be better, instead of planting a coarse tree 
of any kind, to cover the railings with the Irish ivy, as the 
French do ; and then, no light being intercepted, it would 
be possible to have something worth looking at in the little 
garden, and the heavier rushes of dust would be kept out 
by the dense covering of ivy, which would moreover look 
green at all seasons. Dwarf shrubs more suited to the size 
of the place and plenty of flowers might then be grown with 
success. Every Lime tree in every small garden in London 
should be cut down. 

The Elm is a tree much used in the London parks, and 
sometimes seen of fine dimensions, but occasionally it is 
much diseased when used as an avenue tree — for example, 
in the Mall, in St. Jameses Park, where the efiect of the 
avenue planting is as bad as it can be. And aU. this from 
not having selected a good kind of tree at first ; indeed it 
is so bad that there need be little surprise at our not yet 
having attempted street-planting. A few Plane trees near 
the Buckingham Palace end of the Mall almost save it from 
looking absolutely hideous from that point of view. The 
eflPect of the Elms in Rotten Row, though much better, is not 
nearly so good as may be produced in like positions by using 
other trees. The variety chosen has a good deal to do with 
it — the long Boulevard St. Michel, in Paris, planted with 
the large-leaved Elm, is quite a success. However, looking 
to the gross insect enemy of the Elm, and its aspect when 
planted, as we plant it in avenues, it is not a desirable tree for 
this purpose, though indispensable for grouping in the parks. 

Paulo wnia imperialis is a very noble subject for town 
gardens, especially so for those on a dry soil like Paris, and 
where a good shading medium is wanted. It might well 
replace several of the miles of poor clipped Elms and Limes 



AND SHRUBS POE CITIES. 



171 



about Paris^ and around numbers of Frencb country bouses. 
It bas been well employed in Paris, as may be seen on the 
nortb side of tbe Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle. During tbe 
first days of September, 1868 — days as bot as they were in 
July — I examined tbese trees, and found tbem as green and 
as fresb as could be desired, wben Chestnuts, Limes, Elms, 
and all around looked as if they had passed a few moments 
over a brisk fire. The stems of the trees were straight, 
and just about the right elevation for a shade-giving tree, 
and the heads spread out flat, so as to give complete shade 
without betraying an awkward tendency to rise too high, so 
as to require clipping to prevent them from keeping the 
light from the upper windows. The large leaves were quite 
fresh — a sufficient proof after such a season as the past 
that it is one of the very best trees for city planting. The 
Paulownia, the Ailantus, and the Plane seem to preserve 
a freshness and vigour no matter how great the heat and 
abundant the dust. The forest trees of our own latitudes do 
not do this, and fall into the sere and withered leaf while 
their companions from Japan and America are in the greenest 
health. It is not easy to imagine a greater improvement 
than that which would be effected by planting this tree where 
a low and yet good shade is required. It is also worthy of 
attention as a town garden tree, and for similar reasons. 

Ailantus glandulosa — sometimes called the " Tree of 
Heaven/'' and by the French Vernis du Japon — is a town tree 
of great excellence. When in a young state it is graceful 
from its long pinnate leaves — when old and well-grown it 
becomes a noble forest tree. But the qualities that will 
above all others recommend it to the town planter are its 
perfect health and freshness, under all circumstances, in 
towns. Dust, foul air, or drought seem to have little or no 
effect upon it. For parks and avenues it is indispensable, 
as it perfectly retains its foliage long after our own deci- 
duous trees have been scorched by drought and dust. It 
seems to do equally well on all soils, having a constitution 
and a leathery texture which seem perfectly indifferent to 
any vicissitude of climate witnessed in these latitudes. 

Everywhere in cities that beautiful and distinct tree, the 



172 



A SELECTION OF THE BEST TREES 



Lombardy poplar_, retains its glossy liealtli and vigour^ 
proving its claims to be far more abundantly used tban at 
present. Avenues of this tree would tell as well in some 
positions in cities as single specimens and groups of it do in 
the landscape. The drip of trees is sometimes objected to : 
this erect and close growing kind would seem to offer itself 
for rather narrow streets and positions, where a spreading 
habit or drip might be an inconvenience at any time. I 
do not recommend its use on an extensive scale ; but it is 
so handsome and distinct in outline, stands drought, dust, 
and bad soil so admirably, that we are bound to recognise 
its merits far more than at present, and there are many 
positions in London in which it would be highly appro- 
priate. Of other tapering columnar or fastigiate trees, the 
pyramidal variety of the Oak and the tapering variety of 
the Robinia do particularly well in the parks ; and the last 
is deserving of recommendation for the town garden. 

Of weeping trees, in addition to the long-proved and in- 
dispensable Weeping Willow — which it is needless to recom- 
mend here, as most people will have noticed its bewitching 
outlines in some of our parks — we have the weeping Birch, 
Ash, Beech, and Elm, in all cases in perfect health in the 
parks. There is one tree of those above-mentioned which 
deserves to be much better known — the weeping variety of 
the large-leaved Elm (Ulmus montana pendula). This is a 
tree of much beauty and character, and it does not seem in 
the least to suffer from the atmosphere of London. It is a 
weeping tree of the first order : its foliage is massive, shade 
dense, and outline most picturesque when thickly clothed in 
summer — the backbone, so to speak, of each widespreading 
branch being seen just glistening above the dense mass of 
leaves, in consequence of none of the branchlets showing- 
above their support. They are all of the true drooping 
tendency. It is a hardier and better constitutioned tree 
than the Weeping Willow, and never grows too high for a 
London or any other town garden ; however, it spreads too 
wide for those of the smallest pattern. In all courtyards 
or open gravelled spaces, in little squares wherever a shady 
tree is desired^ it is invaluable. To form a shady bower 



AND SHRUBS FOR CITIES. 



178 



there is nothing to surpass it. Sliould anybody doubt this^ 
I refer him to the specimen of this tree on the lawn of the 
Botanic Gardens in the Regent-'s Park. I have also seen it 
in perfect health in small squares in less airy parts of 
London than that just named. 

A very charming town tree is the weeping variety of 
Sophora japonica (S. j. pendula). This is perfect as regards 
size^ not spreading so wide as the weeping Elm, Ash^ or 
Willow, yet quite as graceful as any of them. It is always 
densely green^ no matter how hot the season^ and enjoys a 
poor sandy soil,, and the dry conditions from wliich^ from 
overdrainage and other causes, town trees are liable to suffer. 
Bear in mind^ however, that this and all weeping trees should 
only be used where they are not likely to suffer from muti- 
lation of any kind, and where their character and grace may 
be seen and enjoyed. 

The numerous free-growing trees of the Bose order, from 
the Chinese Pear and the Almonds that illuminate our groves 
with masses of light rosy flowers in earliest spring, to the 
dwarf double Prunus, all grow healthfully in our parks ; 
and though unfit for street-planting, are worthy of the 
highest attention both for small gardens in towns, and for 
squares, public gardens, and parks. It would take a very 
long list to enumerate all the really handsome members of 
this family now almost entirely neglected in comparison to 
their merits. They alone are almost caj^able of saving us 
from the aspect of the soot-covered objects courteously 
termed evergreens ; and in spring, when all the world bursts 
out in leaf, they are almost typical of London seasons. 
From sooty-brown sticks they would " spread out their little 
hands into the ray/-* quickly become clouds of virgin green, 
afterwards great bouquets of flowers, white^ pink^ and 
rose, would give shade and verdure as well as other trees 
in summer, and in the fulness of time become covered 
with gay fruits. Let us, for example^ look at the Hawthorn 
family, known popularly through one of its members, the 
common May, the admired of everybody. In the Phoenix 
Park in Dublin there may be seen many thousand quaint, 
gnarled^ indigenous plants of it — old fellows that must have 



174 



A SELECTION OE THE BEST TREES 



first sprung from tlieir tiny stone many generations ago. 
During the flowering season tlie whole park (about 1760 
acres in extent) is perfumed with them^ and nothing can 
be more agreeable than a stroll there of a May afternoon. 

Of course the Phoenix Park is practically in the country, 
but the group near the museum in the Botanic Gardens in 
the Regent^s Park proyes that the hawthorn family will 
succeed perfectly on what is by far the worst kind of soil, 
and the worst enemy with which the London gardener has 
to contend — the deep bed of clay on the north side of 
the city. Generally people regard the Hawthorn as a thing 
apart from all others, and know little of the yaried beauty 
of the family ; but the fact is, it furnishes a greater number 
of hardy ornamental dwarf trees than any other known to 
us. They are not only pretty and fragrant in flower, but 
the aspect of the fruit in autumn — borne in showers of 
bright red, yellow, black, and scarlet — is of itself a recom- 
mendation which should entitle them to general cultiyation, 
even if the bloom and fragrance were of that obscui'e type 
which neyer attracts the attention of any but a botanist — 
a type too common among our popular trees and shrubs. 

Of the common Hawthorn alone, the double and pink 
and other yarieties are capable of a rich display of beauty in 
spring; and the fruit, too, yaries in a remarkable manner. 
Varieties are grown with black fruit (Crataegus Oliyeriana), 
yellow fruit (C. aurea), woolly fruit (C. eriocarpa), and white 
fruit (C. leucocarpa). C. prsecox, the early flowering, is the 
Glastonbury thorn; C. pnnicea flore pleno, the double 
scarlet-flowered ; and there are many other yarieties of the 
common haw. In fact, the plant would serve as well as 
many to illustrate the variation of which a species is capable, 
if such were wanted by a Darwinian. 

If a single species displays so much ornament and 
diversity, how much more may we expect fr-om its numerous 
congeners, all of which are hardy ? To have a full idea of 
their value it is necessary to visit places where a collection 
is grown not only in the early summer-flowering season, but 
also in the autumn. The brilliancy and profusion of the 
fruit — some of them many times larger than the common 



AND SHRUBS FOR CITIES. 



175 



one^, some of an agreeable acid flavour, and others like 
miniature apples_, both in shape and taste — are quite re- 
freshing amidst evergreens and common trees which never 
produce a noticeable fruit or flower. Some are as large as 
marbles, others more pyriform in shape, but large and 
eatable ; such indeed as I should be very glad of if I were 
cast ashore on some desolate isle, like old Byron, and such 
as would have been a godsend to poor Burke and Wills and 
their party, who lived upon the tiny and miserable Nardoo 
fruit. Where the feeding and attracting of the feathered 
tribes is a consideration, there is nothing to equal these 
exotic thorns. Among the best kinds are the following : — 
C. coccinea, and its varieties, coraJlina and maxima ; C. 
nigra ; C. crus-galli, and its varieties, splendens, pyr acanthi- 
folia, and saHcifolia ; C. punctata, and its varieties ; C. ma- 
crantha ; C. Azarolus ; C. obtusata, a variety of the common 
species which grows seventy feet high ; C. Douglasi, a purple- 
berried North American kind, named after the famous and 
unfortunate plant-collector Douglas, who sent us home the 
noble Douglas fir and a host of valuable American plants ; 
C. Orien talis, C. Leeana, C. Aronia, berries yellow ; and C. 
tanacetifolia, a native of Greece, and its German variety 
glabra; but almost all the species are worth growing. The 
well-known evergreen species, C. pyracantha, so extensively 
used for training against houses and walls, will not do for 
association with these ; but it is of course valuable for the 
embellishment of the walls of the town garden. 

It should be observed that the above species flowering at 
various times, and some of them a good deal later than the 
May and its numerous varieties, prolong the bloom of the 
family for a considerable period. They are more suited for 
grouping in the irregular and diversified parts of parks and 
public gardens than anything else, and may also be used 
with good effect in squares ; avoiding, however, the very 
common error of putting all our native and hardy shrubs 
roughly in under the shade of big trees, &c. Numerous 
subjects are never seen to present their native charms in 
consequence of being overcrowded, or overshadowed, or 
robbed at the root by heavy-feeding neighbours. If a 



176 



A SELECTION OF THE BEST TREES 



thing be worth planting at all it is worth planting well ; 
and the rule in our squares,, and too often in our parks and 
gardens, is excessive crowding and little or no attempt at 
the fair and full development of individual plants, be they 
costly exotics or merely ^'^ common'''' wild Roses or Hawthorns. 

Of tribes that may be associated with the Hawthorns there 
are the Cotoneasters — the freely flowering and fruiting deci- 
duous species ; the Almonds and Peaches, double and single ; 
the various double Cherries and Plums ; Amelanchiers 
(Snowy Mespilus) ; the Bird Cherry and the Weeping 
Cherry; the Judas tree; the Quinces and Medlars (par- 
ticularly Mespilus Smithii) ; the varieties of the Scotch and 
common Laburnums : the Daphnes, the Deutzias, the various 
kinds of Lilac, and numerous other rather dwarf shrubs for 
the embellishment of the margins of groups, &c. ; the various 
kinds of Pyrus from the great P. vestita to the handsome 
Chinese Pear and J apan Quince ; the Rose Acacia ; not to 
mention many other useful species. 

The common Stages Horn Sumach succeeds so well in 
the small town garden that it deserves a word of praise. 
It does not grow so gross as to require clipping, and retains 
its verdure without taint long after that miserable town 
tree the Lime has parted with it ; but it is apt to produce 
suckers too abundantly. Amongst deciduous flowering 
shrubs, the Althea would seem to be the king. With 
attention it should form a telling object in all parts where 
the bottom is diy. By attention,'''' I mean planting it so 
as to develope it into a specimen, and not thrusting it 
promiscuously amongst rough and mixed shrubs, which 
may obscure it from the sun or unduly rob it at the 
root. 

Liriodendron tulipifera, the Tulip tree, seems perfectly 
at home in city parks or gardens, and being a handsome 
and distinct tree in every way deserves to be planted largely 
in such places. Sophora japonica forms a grand tree in 
the neighbourhood of London, and has the valuable property 
of never seeming to sufl'er from drought, no matter how 
dry the soil, but retains its verdure to the end of the season. 
It therefore merits an important place in all our parks and 



AND SHRUBS FOR CITIES, 



177 



squares, especially those with, a dry gravelly, sandy, or light 
bottom. 

Among various trees thoughtlessly recommended for 
London planting in the journals of the past year was the 
Copper Beech. I trust nobody will ever use that as a town 
tree ; not at least until we have too much green in our 
cities, instead of square miles of dull brick without a 
verdant spot, as at present. When we become sufficiently 
Gallicized to establish a Morgue, a few dark and gloomy- 
looking Copper Beeches might appropriately adorn its 
neighbourhood. Nobody can object to grouping this 
tree here and there in the parks, or to the use of the 
Copper Beech in an isolated manner among other trees, 
but to talk of planting avenues of these trees is harrowing. 
There seems a sort of purgatorial ingenuity about this 
recommendation. We are coppery enough in all conscience ; 
and though a line of rusted Limes relieved by Coppery 
Beeches might suit a nation of very strict ritualistic tenden- 
cies, anxious to find even an additional pang among their 
trees — surely the most noble, stately, and useful objects that 
nature has given for the embellishment of the earth — I trust 
such a peace-destroying combination will never be seen in 
my time. I would punish the writer of it by shutting 
him up in a London house of a hot August day, and let 
Copper Beeches and hideous Limes be the only things on 
which he could refresh his eyes — a dreadful punishment for 
anybody with a nervous system and a slight knowledge of 
trees. 

Evergreens, as has been frequently pointed out, are 
as a class better avoided; and yet there are for city 
gardens some kinds which seem to flourish disregarding 
smoke. Of these the Japan Privet (Ligustrum japonicum) 
is worthy of a front place. The beauty and utility of the 
Japan Privet is insufficiently known to the town- gardener, 
though it is extensively planted by the judicious landscape 
gardener and planter. Large in leaf almost as a goodly 
Orange, producing flowers almost as large as the white 
lilac, and very sweet, it possesses first-class attractions as an 
ornamental shrub ; but it is to its value as a London plant 

N 



178 



A SELECTION OF THE BEST TREES 



that I would call tlie attention of the town-gardening por- 
tion of my readers. We all know how difficult it is to 
get any sort of an evergreen to grow well in towns ; those 
with the best character for good behaviour within the vile 
influences of smoke are too apt to become hopelessly deci- 
duous. The Japan Privet may be tried with safety in a 
back garden, far into what Cobbett called the great 
" wen." Having the advantage of flowering so sweetly and 
freely in addition to being a shrub with comely leaves 
and good habit, I am sure those who so plant it will 
not be disappointed. The remaining kinds are mostly 
those that are well known and frequently used — the Aucuba, 
Holly, in great variety, Box, and Rhododendrons, Ivies, 
Berberises, particularly Darwini, and the common Laurel 
— often cut off, however, and not so good or hardy as the 
Aucuba ; the Caucasian Laurel, better and hardier than the 
common kind, Euonymus japonicus, Mahonias, and several 
kinds of Yuccas. 

All these are known to do very fairly if properly planted 
in pretty good positions. Considering how excellently the 
common Aucuba grows in our towns, we may look forward 
with much hope to what may be done with the numerous 
new and fine kinds as soon as they are common enough to 
be tried extensively in city gardening. But the town- 
planter cannot be too often cautioned against the over use 
of evergreens — there is scarcely a suburb in which thousands 
of pounds worth of them are not to be at any time seen 
in a dying state ! Even the kinds above enumerated are 
often seen to languish and die after a year or two in a 
west central garden, like Mecklenburg-square, where the 
deciduous trees are fine enough to freshen the heart of a 
North American Indian should he happen to pass by. 

Anxious to promote as far as possible permanent and noble 
rather than fleeting and mean styles of park decoration, I ven- 
ture to add the names of some fine distinct trees that deserve 
to be more widely planted in our city parks and gardens, if 
only to vary the monotony caused by the profuse planting 
of well known kinds. The Oaks ofi'er an example of the 
arboreal riches within the reach of planters, and the Ame- 



AND SHRUBS FOR CITIES. 



179 



rican Oaks especially cannot be overpraised. Of course 
they are not recommended here for street or boulevard 
plantings but for parks and open spaces where the dust 
is a little subdued and where they may have plenty of 
root-room. 

The following species of Oak are well worthy of atten- 
tion in our parks : — Quercas ambigua — fine foliage ; the best 
of all the American oaks for quick growth. Q. Prinus — ■ 
chestnut oak. Q. rubra — champion oak. Q. coccinea — 
scarlet oak. Q. falcata — downy oak. Q. tinctoria — black 
oak. Q. palustris — pine oak. Q. nigra — black jack oak. 
Q. Catesbsei — scrub oak. Q. Phellos — willow oak. Q. im- 
bricata — shingle oak^ very distinct. Q. iEsculus — Italian oak. 

The Maples also comprise some very noble trees : — Acer 
macrophylla — the great Columbian maple. A. lobatum 
— Siberian maple. A. Lobelii — this kind grows erect, like 
the Lombardy poplar, and has violet shoots and striped 
bark. A. eriocarpum — Sir Charles Wager^s maple, a fine 
silvery appearance. A. neapolitanum — Neapolitan maple, 
fine large foliage. A. obtusatum — Hungarian maple, very 
distinct from the Neapolitan maple, with which it is 
frequently confounded. A. colchicum rubrum — this kind 
has bright red twigs in winter, and is distinct and good. 
A. platanoides — Norway maple, very showy when in flower 
in the spring. A. Pseudo-Platanus purpurea — purple-leaved 
sycamore. Negundo fraxinifolia variegata — very showy. 

Of other valuable subjects not running in such closely 
allied groups, the following will be found worthy of extensive 
use : — Catalpa syringsefolia, makes an ornamental tree near 
London. Laurus sassafras, Nyssa biflora and villosa — the 
autumn tints of these are fine ; they are natives of North 
America. Ulmus stricta, the Cornish elm ; Ulmus vimi- 
nalis, distinct habit ; Ulmus vegeta, Chichester elm ; Ulmus 
nigra, Irish elm, a large timber tree of rapid growth ; Ulmus 
montana major, smooth elm ; and Ulmus americana, a very 
distinct tree, of large size. Plan era Richardi, a fine tree, 
with a peculiarly distinct and striking mode of branching. 
Celtis occidentalis, the nettle tree. Juglans nigra, black 
walnut, fine foliage. Carya amara, C. alba, and sulcata^ 

N 3 



180 



A SELECTION OF THE BEST TREES 



fine foliage. ^Esculus Hippocastanum flore-pleno — the 
flower lasts three times as long in perfection as that of 
the single horse- chestnut. M. rubicnnda — the scarlet 
flowered. Tilia alba^ or argentea — the Hungarian lime , 
tree^ the best. T. americana — ^Mississippi lime^ very large ' 
leaves. Pavia rnbra — native of the mountains of Vir- 
ginia and Carolina^ rather a small but ornamental tree, 
p. flava — this is a native of the same country, but attains a 
larger growth than the former species. P. indica — very 
distinct in foliage. P. californica — fragrant flowers in long 
spikes^ a very handsome tree. Liriodendron tulipifera — 
the tulip-tree, and its vaiiety obtusatum, the entii-e leaved , 
form. Sophora japonica pendula — a highly ornamental 
weeping tree. It is somewhat tender in the noii:h_, but 
flourishes finely about London,, and on dry soils generally. 
It can stand any amount of drought, and is therefore 
particularly well adapted for diy soils. Vhen it flowers 
it is very ornamental. Yii^gilia lutea — a native of Xorth 
America, has white pendulous racemes of flower, a little l 
larger than those of the locust tree. It is very striking -; 
when in flower, and does best on a dryish soil. Robinia j 
viscosa — a native of South Carolina and Georgia, comes 
in flower later than the common locust tree, and bears pink i 
blossoms. Gleditschia sinensis (horrida) and ferox are very -I 
singular, from having their stems embellished with large and ] 
flerce spines. Gymnocladus canadensis, the Kentucky coffee j 
tree^ is remarkable for the beauty of its foliage during j 
summer. Of the Crataeguses — Aronia, with large yellow 
fruit ; Layi, with large red fruit used for preserving in : 
China ; Celseana (Leeana of the nui^series), pale red fruit ; \ 
and Douglasi, black fr-uited^ are among the most distinct. 

Pyrus vestita is a large silveiy species beautiful even j 
among the many good things in its family. Omus europsea, | 
the flowering ash ; Fraxinus lentiscifolia, Calabrian manna ^ 
ash; Fraxinus americana, the broad-leaved American ash ; 
F. pubescens, black American ash ; F. epiptera (or lancea), 
the Canadian ash or lancewood. Platanus orientalis 
pjramidalis — fine variety. P. acerifolia — Spanish plane. 
P. umbeUata — a fine variety. Liquidambai' styraciflua — 



1 



AND SHRUBS FOE, CITIES. 



181 



fine tint in autnmn. Salisbnria adiantifolia— var. macro- 
phylla. Populus acerifolia^ or nivea — the silver-leaved 
poplar^ very fine. P. angulata — Carolina poplar, leaves 
large_, and sub-evergreen. Alnus incana lacmiata — cut- 
leaved alder. A. cordata — fine large glossy leaves^ very 
distinct from all the other kinds ; sub -evergreen. Betula 
angulata^ or nigi'a — the black birch. Elaegnus argenteus^ 
deciduous Magnolias^ and Pterocarya caucasica — fine 
foliage and distinct tree. 



182 



CHAPTER X. 

SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 

The teiTQ subtropical is popularly given to flower- 
gardens embellished by plants having large and hand- 
some leave s_, noble habit or graceful outlines. It simply 
means the introduction of a rich and varied vegeta- 
tion^ chiefly distinguished by beauty of form^ to the 
ordinarily flat and monotonous surface of the garden. 
The system had its origin in Paris^ where it was first 
carried out on a small scale around the old Tour St. Jacques,, 
and is now adopted to a greater extent there than anywhere 
else. Indeed^ the presence of great numbers of fine-leaved 
plants is one of the most marked featm^es in the parks and 
public gardens of that city. Mr. Gibson^ the able and 
energetic superintendent of Battersea Park^ undaunted by 
the popular nonsense about the great superiority of the 
climate of Paris over that of London^ boldly tried the 
system^ and with what a result all know who have seen his 
charming subtropical garden '''' in Battersea Park. 

This system has taught us the value of grace and ver- 
dure amid masses of low^ brilliant^ and um^elieved flowers^ 
or rather has reminded us of how far we have diverged 
from Nature''s ways of displaying the beauty of vegetation. 
Previous to the inauguration of this movement in Eng- 
land^ our love for rude colour had led us to ignore the ex- 
quisite and inexhaustible way in which plants are naturally 
arranged — fern^ flower^ grass^ shrub, and tree, sheltering, 
supporting, and relieving each other. We cannot attempt 
to reproduce this literally, nor would it be wise or con- 
venient to do so j but assuredly herein will be found the 
source of true beauty in the plant world, and the more the 
ornamental gardener keeps the fact before his eyes, the 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 183 



nearer trutli and success will be attained. Nature in puris 
naturalibus we cannot have in our gardens, but Nature's 
laws should not be violated, and few human beings have 
contravened them more than our flower gardeners during 
the past twenty years. We must compose from Nature, as 
the best landscape artists do, not imitate her basely. We 
may have all the shade, the relief, the grace, and the beauty, 
and nearly all the irregularity of Nature seen in every 
blade of grass, in every sea-wave, and in every human 
countenance, and which may be found too, in some way, 
in every garden that affords us lasting pleasure either from 
its contents or design. Subtropical gardening has taught 
us that one of the greatest mistakes ever made in the 
flower garden was the adoption of a few varieties of plants 
for culture on a vast scale, to the exclusion of interest and 
variety, and too often of beauty or taste. We have seen 
how well the pointed, tapering leaves of the Cannas carry 
the eye upwards ; how refreshing it is to cool the eyes 
in the deep green of those thoroughly tropical Castor- 
oil plants with their gigantic leaves ; how grand the Wi- 
gandia, with its wrought-iron texture and massive outline, 
looks after we have surveyed brilliant hues and richly painted 
leaves ; how greatly the sweeping palm -leaves beautify the 
British flower garden; — and, in a word, the system has 
shown us the difference between gardening that interests 
and delights all the public, as well as the mere horticul- 
turist, and that which is too often offensive to the eye of 
taste, and pernicious to every true interest of what Bacon 
calls the " Purest of Humane pleasures.-*' 

But are we to adopt this system in its purity ? Cer- 
tainly not. All practical men see that to accommodate it 
to private gardens an expense and a revolution of appliances 
would be necessary, which are in nearly all cases quite im- 
possible, and if possible, hardly desirable. We can, how- 
ever, introduce to our gardens most of its better features ; 
we can vary their contents, and render them more inte- 
restmg by a cheaper and a nobler system. The use of all 
plants without any particular and striking habit or foliage, 
or other distinct peculiarity, merely because they are " sub- 



184 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



tropical/^ should be tabooed at once_, as tending to make 
mncli work, and to return — a lot of weeds ; for weedi- 
ness " is all tliat I can write of many Solannms and stove 
plants of no real merit wbicb have been employed under 
this name. Selection of the most beautiful and useful 
from the great mass of plants known to science is one 
of the most important of the horticulturist's duties, and 
in no branch must he exercise it more thoroughly than 
in this. Some plants used in it are indispensable — the 
different kinds of Ricinus, Cannas in great variety, Polym- 
nia, Colocasia, Uhdea, Wigandia, Ferdinanda, Palms, Yuccas, 
Dracaenas, and fine-leaved plants of coriaceous texture 
generally. A few specimens of these may be accommo- 
dated in many large gardens ; they will embellish the houses 
in winter, and, transferred to the open garden in summer, 
will lend interest to it when we are tired of the houses. 
Some Palms, like Seaforthia, may be used with the best 
effect for the winter decoration of the conservatory, and be 
placed out with an equal result, and without danger in 
summer. The many fine kinds of Dracsenas, Yuccas, 
Agaves, &c., which have been seen to some perfection at 
our shows of late, are eminently adapted for standing out 
in summer, and are in fact benefited by it. Among the 
noblest ornaments of a srood conservatorv are the Norfolk 
Island and other tender Araucarias — these may be placed 
out for the summer much to their advantage, because the 
rains will thoroughly clean and freshen them for winter 
storing. So with some Cycads and other plants of distinct 
habit — the very things best fitted to add to the attrac- 
tions of the flower garden. Thus we may enjoy all the 
benefits of what is called subtropical gardening without 
creating any special arrangements for them in all but the 
smallest gardens. 

But what of those who have no conservatory, no hothouses, 
no means for preserving large tender plants in winter ? They 
too may enjoy in effect the beauty which may have charmed 
them in a subtropical garden. I have no doubt what- 
ever that in many places as good an effect as any yet seen 
in an English garden from tender plants, may be obtained by 



SrBTEOPICAL PLANTS TOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 185 



planting hardy ones only ! There is the Pampas Grass — which 
■when well grown is unsurpassed by anything that requires 
protection. Let us in planting it take the trouble to plant and 
place it yery well — and we can afford to do that_, since one 
good planting is all that it requires of us^ while tender 
things of one-tenth the yalue may demand daily attention. 
There are the hardy Yuccas,, noble and graceful in outline, 
and thoroughly hardy, and which, if planted well, are not to 
be surpassed, if equalled, by anything of like habit we can 
preserye indoors. There are the Arundos, conspicua and 
DoDax, things that well repay for liberal planting ; and there 
are fine hardy herbaceous plants like Crambe cordifolia. 
Rheum Emodi, Ferulas, and yarious fine umbelliferous plants 
that will fui'nish effects equal to those we can produce by 
using the tenderest. The Acanthuses too, when well grown, 
are yery suitable to this style ; one called latifolius, which 
is beginning to get known, being of a peculiarly firm, po- 
lished, and noble leafage. Then we haye a hardy Palm — 
yery much hardier too than it is supposed to be, because it 
has preseryed its health and greenness in sheltered positions, 
where its leayes could not be torn to shreds by storms 
through all our recent hard winters, including that of 1860. 

And when we haye obtained these we may associate them 
with not a few things of much beauty among trees and 
shrubs — with elegant tapering young pines, many of which, 
like Cupressus nutkaensis, haye branchlets finely chiselled 
as a Selaginella ; not of necessity bringing the larger things 
into close or awkward association with the humbler and 
dwarfer flowers, but sufficiently so to carry the eye from the 
minute and pretty to the higher and more dignified forms of 
vegetation. By a judicious selection from the yast mass of 
hardy plants now obtainable in this country, and by asso- 
ciating with them where it is conyenient, house plants that are 
stood out for the summer, we may arrange and enjoy charms 
in the flower garden to which we are as yet strangers, simply 
because we haye not sufficiently selected from and utiKzed 
the yast amount of yegetable beauty at our disposal. 

Let us next select the finer tender plants for this pur- 
pose, speak of the treatment they require, and the uses or 



186 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE PLOWER GARDEN. 



associations for which they are best adapted. In selecting 
tender plants of noble aspect or elegant foliage^ suited for 
placing in the open air in British gardens dnring the summer 
months^ we shall confine ourselves to first-class plants only. 
It is necessaiy that they be such as will afibrd a distinct 
and desirable efiect if they do grow; and that is by no 
means to be obtained from many subjects recommended for 
subtropical gardening. And above all we must choose 
such as will make a healthy growth in sheltered places in 
the warmer parts of England and Ireland at all events. 
There is some reason to believe that not a few of the best 
will be found to flourish much further north than is generally 
supposed. In all parts the kinds with permanent foliage, 
such as the New Zealand flax and the hardier Dracsenas, 
will be found as eff*ective as around Paris, and to such the 

northern gardener 
should turn his 
attention as much 
as possible. Even 
if it were possible 
to cultivate the 
softer - growing 
kinds like the 
Eerdinandas to 
the same perfec- 
tion in all parts 
as in the south 
of England, it 
would by no 
means be every- 
where desirable, 
and especially 
where means are 
scarce, as these 
kinds are not capa- 
ble of being used 
indoors in winter. 
The many fine 
Yanegated Agave. permanent leaved 




SUBTROPICA]i PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 187 



Fig 



subjects that stand out in summer witliout the least injmy, 
and may be transferred to the conservatory in autumn, there 
to produce as fine an effect all through the cold months as 
they do in the flower garden in summer, are the best for 
those with limited means. 

Agave Americana and its variegated vaneties are plants 
peculiarly suited for this kind of decoration, being useful 
for placing out of doors in summer in vases, tubs, or pots 
plunged in the ground, and also for the conservatory in 
winter. They are so well known and so long cultivated in 
this country that nothing need be said of their requirements 
or cultivation. 

Aralia papyrieera (the Chinese Rice-paper Plant). — This, 
though a native of the hot island of Formosa, flourishes 
vigorously around Paris in the summer months, and is one 
of the most 
valuable plants 
in its way. It 
is useful for the 
greenhouse in 
winter and the 
flower garden 
in summer. It 
is handsome in 
leaf and free in 
growth, though 
to do well it 
mast be protec- 
tedfrom cutting 
breezes, like all 
the large-leaved 
things. In some 
of the warmer 
parts of France 

the Peach does very well as a field tree — a low one, however. 
The wind is so strong that it would be destroyed if allowed 
to rise in the natural way, and so they train it as a dwarf 
bush, spreading wide. Tall subtropical plants have with 
us somewhat of the same disadvantage. If this Aralia be 




Aralia papyrifera. 



188 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



planted in a dwarf and young state^ it is likely to give more 
satisfaction than if planted out when old and tall. The 
lower leaves spread widely out near the ground,, and then 
it is presentable throughout the summer. Prefer therefore 
dwarf stocky plants when planting it in early summer. It 
should have rich^ deep soil and plenty of water during the 
hot summer months. The open air of our country suits it 
better than the stove, and chiefly no doubt because it is 
very liable to the mealy bug when kept indoors ; in the free 
air this pest is washed away by the rain. Tor the public 
gardens of Paris it is kept underground in caves duj-ing the 
winter; but in private gardens with us it will doubtless be 
worthy of a place in the greenhouse throughout that season. 
It is easily increased by cuttings of the root. It is usually 
planted in masses^ edged with a dwarfer plant; but as a 
small group in the centre of a bed of flowers^ or even as an 
isolated specimen in a like position, it is capital. The stems 
of this plant have a very fine pure white pith^ which, when 
cut into thin strips and otherwise prepared, forms the article 
known as rice paper. It is rare for a plant to be so useful 
both in an ornamental and economic sense. 

Acacia lophantha. — This elegant plant, though not 
hardy, is one of those which all may enjoy, from the free- 
dom with which it grows in the open air in summer. It 
will prove more useful for the flower garden than it has 
ever been for the houses, and, being easily raised, is 
entitled to a place here among the very best. The elegance 
of its leaves and its quick growth in the open aii' make it 
quite a boon to the flower gardener who wishes to establish 
graceful verdure amongst the brighter ornaments of his 
parterre. It will furnish the grace of a fern, while close 
and erect in habit, thus enabling us to closely associate it 
with flowering plants without in the least shading them — 
except from ugliness. Of course I speak of it in the young 
and single stemmed condition, the way in which it should 
be used. By confining it to a single stem and using it in 
a young state, you get the fullest size and grace of which 
the leaves are capable. Allow it to become old and 
branched and it may be useful, but by no means so much. 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 189 



SO as wheii young and without side branches. It may be 
raised from seed as easily as a common bedding plant. By 
sowing it early in the year it may be bad fit for use by the 
first of June ; but plants a year old or so^ stifi", strongs and 
well hardened ofi" for planting out at the end of May^ are 
the best. It would be desirable to raise an annual stocky as 
it is almost as useful for room decoration as for the garden. 

AsPLENiuM NIDUS-AVIS. — This is a very remarkable fern, 
which has been placed out of doors in the garden in summer, 
but it is not vigorous or hardy enough to be generally 



Fig. 63. 




Asplenium nidus-avis. 



recommended for this purpose. However, as it may have 
been noticed in abundance at Battersea Park during the 
past season, I allude to it here. It is a popular subject in 
places where large collections of tropical ferns are grown, 
and in such a plant may be tried in the open air in a very 
warm, shady, and perfectly sheltered position. 

Caladium esculentum. — This species has proved the 
best for out-door work of a large genus with very fine foliage. 
It is only in the midland and southern counties of Great 
Britain that it can be advantageously grown, so far as I have 
observed ; but its grand outlines and aspect when well de- 
veloped make it worthy of all attention, and of a prominent 
position wherever the climate is warm enough for its 
growth. It does very well about London, and may have 



190 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



been noticed in considerable masses during the past year 
in tlie London parks_, where it served to illustrate to some 
extent the disadvantages of tbat mode of planting. When 
seen in wide masses the eflPect is by no means so fine as 
when in a compact group or circle. The dead level line 
presented by the tops — which line_, unlike that of the upper 
surface of the taller plants^ is below the eye — neutralizes 
considerably the great lines of the leaves ; but place the 
plant in a ring round a central object; or in some posi- 
tion where its 
fine leaves 
may contrast 
immediately 
with those of a 
different type 
of vegetation,, 
and it is beau- 
tiful indeed. It 
may be used 
with great ef- 
fect in associa- 
tion with many 
fine foliage 
plants; butFer- 
dinanda^ Rici- 
nus, and Wi- 
gandia usually 
grow too strong 
for it; and if 
planted too close injure it. This may have been noticed par- 
ticularly in cases where it was used as bordering to masses 
of the strong growing kinds above-named. With all kinds of 
stonework, vases^ &c.; it is peculiarly effective and beautiful. 
C. esculentum; though a stove perennial; is very easily kept 
over the winter in a dry spot under a stage or in boxes of 
sand in places where hothouse room is scarce. It is readily 
propagated by first starting the plants in heat; and when 
they have pushed forth eyes near the basC; cutting them in 
pieceS; an eye or bud in each. In spring the older plants 



Fig. 64. 




Caladium esculentum. 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 191 

should be potted and grown on in heat^ so as to be fit to 
plant out about the middle of June. On tbe whole, 
although so fine and distinct_, it is not suitable for any but 
mild and warm parts of the southern half of these islands. 
The nearly allied Colocasia odorata is sometimes employed, and 
eflPectively especially in the case of old specimens with stems. 

Fig. 65. 




Colocasia odorata. 



The Cannas. — If there were no plants of handsome habit 
and graceful leaf available for the improvement of our 
flower gardens but these we need not despair, for they 
possess almost every quality the most fastidious could desire, 
and present a useful and charming variety. The larger 
kinds make grand masses, while all may be associated 
intimately with flowering plants — an advantage that does 
not belong to some free-growing things like the Castor-oil 
plant. The Canna ascends as boldly, and spreads forth as 
fine a mass of leaves as any ; but may be closely grouped 
with much smaller subjects. The general tendency of most 



192 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS YOR THE PLOWER GARDEN. 



Fig. 66. 



of our flower-garden plants is to assume a flatness and dead 
levels so to speak ; and it is the very qualities possessed by 
theCannasfor counteracting this that makes them so yaluable. 
Even the grandest of the other subjects preserve this tameness 
of upper surface outline when grown in great quantities ; 
not so these^ the leaves of which, even when grown in dense 

groups, always 
carry the eye up 
pleasantly from 
the humbler 
plants, and are 
grand aids in ef- 
fecting that har- 
mony between 
the important 
tree and shrub 
embellishments 
of our gardens 
and their sur- 
roundings, and 
the dwarf flower- 
bed vegetation, 
which is so much 
wanted. Another 
charm of these 
most useful sub- 
jects is their 
power of with- 
standing the cold 
and storms of 
autumn. They 
do so better than 
many of our 
hardy open-air plants, so that when the last leaves have 
been blown from the Lime, and the Dahlia and Heliotrope 
have been hurt by frost, you may see them waving as 
greenly and gracefully as the vegetation of a temperate 
stove. Many of the subtropical plants, used for the beauty 
of their leaves, are so tender that they go off in autumn, or 




Can 



na nigricans. 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS TOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 193 

require all sorts of awkward protection at that season ; but 
the Cannas last in good trim till the borders must be cleared. 
All sheltered positions, places near warm walls, and nice 
snugly- warmed dells, are capital positions for them. They 
are generally used in great ugly masses, both about Paris 
and London ; but their true beauty will never be seen till we 



Fig. 67. 




Canna atro-nigricans. 



learn to place them tastefully here and there among the 
flowering plants — just as we place sprigs of graceful 
fern in a bouquet. A bed or two solely devoted to 
them will occasionally prove very effective ; but enormous 
meaningless masses of them, containing perhaps several 
hundred plants of one variety, are things to avoid and not 
to imitate. As to culture and propagation, nothing can be 

o 



194 SUBTUOPICAL PLANTS POR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



more simple : they may be stored in -filter as readily as 
potatoes, under shelves in the houses, in the root-room, or^ 
in fact, anywhere covered up from the influences of frost. 
And then in spring, when we desire to propagate them, 
nothing is easier than pulling the roots in pieces, and 
potting them separately. Afterwards it is usual to bring 
them on in heat, and finally harden them ofP previous to 
planting out ; but a modification of this practice is de- 
sirable, as some kinds are of a remarkably hardy constitu- 
tion, and make a beautiful growth if put out without so 
much as a leaf on them. 

In rambling through an obscure part of Paris one even- 
ing, I encountered a tuft of Canna springing up strongly 
through and around a box-edging — pretty good evidence 
that it had remained there for some years. Upon inquiiy 
of the proprietor of the garden I found this was the case^ 
and that he had no doubt of the hardiness of several other 
kinds. They were planted not more than eight or ten 
inches deep. When we remember that the Cannas are 
amongst the most valuable plants we use for giving grace 
and verdure to the flower garden, this surely is a hint 
worthy of being acted upon. Considering their diversity 
of colour and size, their graceful pointed habit and facility 
of propagation, we must concede them the first place ; but 
their capability of being used by anybody who grows 
ordinary bedding plants, and the fact that they may be 
preserved so veiy easily through the winter, enhance their 
value still more. The following are among the best of the 
hardiest kinds : — ^C. Annsei, mussefolia, gigantea, limbata, 
Warscewiczii, nigricans, maxima, and zebrina. Of course 
they will prove equally hardy with us. As it is desirable 
to change the arrangements as much as possible eveiy year, 
it may not be any advantage to leave them in the ground, 
and in that case they may be taken up with the bedding 
plants, and stored as simply and easily as carrots, parsnips, 
or potatoes. A bed of Cannas, protected by a coating of 
litter, was left out in Battersea Park tln^ough the severe 
winter of 1866-7. During the unfavourable summer of 
1867 they attained a height of nearly twelve feet. 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS TOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 195 

The Drac^nas. — Long as this noble family has been 
Imown in our gardens, we have yet to learn a great deal 
about its use and beauty. Hitherto only allowed to grace 
a stove or conservatory now and then^ Dracaenas in future 
will be among the most indispensable ornaments of every 
garden where grace or variety is sought. They are among 
the very best of those subjects which may be brought from 
the conservatory or greenhouses in early summer, and placed 
in the flower garden till it is time to take them in again to 
the houses, where we protect them through the winter. 
And if it were not necessary to protect them through the 
winter it would be almost worth our while to bring them 
indoors at that season, so graceful are they, and so useful 
for adding the highest character to our conservatories. One 
well filled with such plants presents a very different ap- 
pearance to most English plant-houses in winter. The 
hardier and most coriaceous kinds, like indivisa and Draco, 
may be placed out with impunity very far north. The 
brightly coloured kinds, like terminalis, have been tried in 
the open air at Battersea, but not with success. It would 
be dangerous to try them in the open air much farther 
north, except in very favom-able spots. The better kinds 
are indicated in the select list of subtropical plants. I 
have seea D. indivisa grow well in the open air in the south 
of England. It has been many years out at Bicton. 

EcHEVERiA METALLicA. — This is scarccly elevated enough 
to be suitable for association with such plants as the fore- 
going, but it is so very distinct in aspect, and has been 
proved to grow so well in the open air during several 
unfavourable seasons, that we must not pass it by. I pur- 
posely exclude from this selection many things sometimes 
included in lists of ^' subtropical plants, but which may 
be classed most properly with bedding subjects. But this, 
although not very large, forms an agreeable and distinct 
object, and is very well calculated for producing a striking 
effect among dwarf bedding and edging plants. It should, 
however, be placed singly, and among very dwarf things, 
such as Sedum, Sempervivum, and its dwarf relative 
E. secunda. It may be propagated by the leaves or by 

o 2 



] 



196 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE iXOWER GARDEN. . 

cuttings, and requires a dry greenhouse shelf in the winter. ^ 

Light sandy earth, not of necessity very poor, will suit it i 

best in the open air. It is likely to become one of the | 

most popular of all garden plants. [ 

Ferdinanda eminens. — This is one of the tallest and 
noblest subtropical plants, growing well in the southern 
and midland counties : wherever it is supplied with rich soil 

and abundant moisture. It is also very much the better ^ 

for being sheltered, and so are all large and soft-leaved : 

plants. Where the soil is rich, deep, and humid, and the i 
position warm, it attains large dimensions, sometimes grow- 

ing over twelve feet, and suspending immense pairs of op- j 

posite leaves. It will in all cases form a capital companion j 

to the Castor-oil plant, and, though it may not be grown ^ 

with such ease in all parts, it should be in every collection, ; 

considering that it grows quite as well in the south of i 

England as in the neighbourhood of Paris. It requires to ] 

be planted out in a ■ 

young state, and grows I 

freely from cuttings. i 

Greenhouse treatment \ 

will do in winter. It j 
is better to keep a stock 
in pots through the sum- 
mer to afford cuttings, 

though the old ones may j 

be used for that purpose. j 

Ficus ELASTiCA (India- \ 

rubber Plant). — Another ^ 

fine old plant, for which ' 

we have lately found a * 

new use. It is one of ] 

those valuable leathery- ' 

leaved things that are i 

useful in hothouse, draw- j 

ing-room, or flower gar- 1 

den. It not only exists j 
in the open air in summer 
in good health, but makes 

1 
I 



Fia. 68. 




Ficus elastica. 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS TOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 197 



a good growtli under the influence of onr weak northern 
snn. Never assuming the imposing proportions of other 
plants mentioned here, it is best adapted for select mixed 
groups^ and in small gardens as isolated specimens amongst 
low bedding plants. It requires stove treatment^ and is 
propagated from cuttings. In all cases it is better to use 
plants with single stems. It is especially valuable in con- 
sequence of doing perfectly well in the dry air of inhabited 
rooms^ and this will enable many to enjoy a fine-leaved 
plant in the flower garden who have not a glass house of 
any kind on their premises. 



Fig. 69. 




Monstera deliciosa. 



MoNSTERA DELICIOSA. — TMs vcry rcmarkablc-looking plant 
has been found to bear being placed in the open air with 
impunity in shady and sheltered spots. Its great perfo- 
rated leaves look so singular that everybody should grow it 
who has a stove in which to do so_, and it is so readily 
grown and propagated that a plant may soon be spared for 
placing in the open air during the warmer months. 

MusA Ensete. — The noblest of all the plants yet used 



198 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN, 



in the flower garden is Musa Ensete — the great Abyssinian 
Banana^ discovered by Bruce. The fruit of this kind is 
not edible^ like that of tbe Banana and Plantain (Musa 
paradisiaca and sapientum), but the leaves are magnificent ; 
and^ strange to say^ tbey stand the rain and storms of the 
neigbbourbood of Paris without laceration^ while all the 
other kinds of Musa become torn into shreds. It is an 
interesting and hitherto unknown fact_, that the finest of all 
the Banana or Musa tribe is also the hardiest and most 
easily preserved. When grown for the open air^ it will of 
course require to be kept in a house during winter,, and 
planted out the first week in June. In any place where 
there is a large conservatory or winter garden^ it will be 
found most valuable^ either for planting therein^ or for 
keeping over the winter^ as^ if merely housed in such a 
structure during the cold months^ it wiU prove a great 
ornament among the other plants^ while it may be put out 
in summer when the attraction is aU out of doors. Other 
kinds of Musa have been tried in the open air in England^ 
but have barely existed^ making it clear that they should 
not be so cultivated in this country. The Ensete is the 
only species really worth growing in this way. Where the 
climate is too cold to put it out of doors in summer^ it 
should be grown in all conservatories in which it is 
desired to establish the noblest type of vegetation. It has 
hitherto been generally grown in stoves. It also stands the 
drought and heat of a living room remarkably well^ and 
though^ when well developed^ it is much too big for any 
but Brobdingnagian halls, the fact may nevertheless be 
taken much advantage of by those interested in room de- 
coration on a large scale. The plant is difficult to obtain 
as yet, but will, I trust, be sought out and made abundant 
by our nurserymen. 

Last September I saw a fine plant of this Musa that had 
remained in the open ground in Baron Haussmann^s garden 
in the Bois de Boulogne dming the preceding winter. It 
was left in the position in which it grew during the summer 
of 1867, and in the month of November covered with a 
little thatched shed, the space about the plant being filled 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 199 



with dry leaves. All tlie leaves were cut off. In spring 
the protection was removed and the plant pushed "vigo- 
rously. It had (on the 8th of September^ 1868)^ sixteen 
leaves, not one of which was torn or lacerated, although it 
was in an exposed position. It was not more than five 
feet high, but more attractive than much larger individuals 
of the same species, from being so compact and untattered 
in its growth. As most people who grow it will have means 
of keeping it indoors in winter, and as it is so rare, this 
mode of keeping it is not likely to be taken advantage of 
with us at present ; but that it can and has been so win- 
tered is an interesting fact. 

NicoTiANA wiGANDioiDEs. — TMs is a shrubby or rather 
tree-Uke species of 
Tobacco, which, when 
put out in a young 
and healthy state^ 
makes a vigorous 
growth, and is an im- 
posing subject both in 
the chmate of Paris 
and London. The 
treatment given to 
such things as the 
Polymnia will suit it 
well. It is, however, 
scarcely so ornamental 
or generally useful as 
the large-leaved and 
bright-flowered va- 
riety of the common 
Tobacco spoken of 
farther on. 

Polymnia grandis 

and pyramidalis. 

These belonar to the ^. . 

Nicotiana wigandioidos. 

great composite order, 

and are distinguished by rich handsome foliage and rapid 
summer growth^ which, moreover, never becomes objection- 



riG. 70. 




200 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOE THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



able from any trace of raggedness, the erect shoots growing 
away till the end of the season in our climate. Doubtless, 
there is a point at which in their native country seediness 
does arrive, but with us they, like the Ricinus of one 
summer, always look fresh and young, and are most appro- 
priate for forming 
luxuriant masses of 
foliage in the flower 
garden, and for di- 
versifying its as- 
pect. P. grandis 
is best known in 
this country, and is 
second to no other 
plant for its digni- 
fied and finished 
efi'ect in the flower 
garden; but P. py- 
ramid alis is also 
good and distinct. 
They are easily 
struck from cut- 
tings taken, from 
old plants and put 
in heat in spring. 
Like most large soft 
Poljmnia grandis. growing things in 

this way, they are 

best planted out in a young state, so as to insure a fresh and 
unstinted growth. P. pyramidalis is the newest of the group 
and that least known in cultivation. I saw it several times 
during the past season in Paris. The leaves are not so large 
as those of the other species, and differ in shape, being nearly 
cordate, but the growth is vigorous and the habit distinct. It 
pushes up a narrow pyramidal head of foliage to a height 
of nearly ten feet in Paris gardens, and will be found to do 
well in the south of England. 

Phormium tenax (the New Zealand Flax). — This is tole- 
rably well known among us as a greenhouse and conservatory 



Fig. 71. 




SUBTROPICAL PLANTS POR THE PLOWER GARDEN. 201 



subject, but not nearly so mucli grown as it ougbt to be. 
The French make a grand use of it, both indoors in 
■winter, and in the conservatory and out-of-doors in sum- 
mer. About Paris it is of course as tender as with us, and 
requires the same amount of attention, which, after all, is 
very little. They grow it by the thousand for the decora- 
tion of rooms, and in the great nursery of the city of Paris 
at Passy there are 10,000 plants of it, chiefly used for the 
embellishment of the Hotel de Ville. I need hardly say 
that we are much worse off for graceful things for indoor 
decoration than the French, and should in consequence 
grow this plant abundantly, according to our space. When 
grown to a medium size its leaves begin to arch over, and 
when in that condition nothing makes a more graceful and 
distinct ornament for room or hall. It may be grown to 
presentable perfection in an eight-inch pot, or to a great 
mass of bold long leaves in a tub a yard in diameter. 
Generally with us it will be found to enjoy greenhouse 
temperature, though in genial places in the south and west 
of Ireland and England it does very well in the open air. 
Its best use is for the decoration of the garden in summer, 
a few specimens well grown and plunged in the grass or the 
centre of a bed giving a most distinct aspect to the scene. 
The larger such plants are, the better, of course, will be the 
effect. The small ones will prove equally useful and effective 
in vases, to which they will add a grace that vases rarely now 
possess. It is pre-eminently useful from its being alike 
good for the house, conservatory, and even the living rooms 
in winter. "Wherever indoor decoration on a large scale is 
practised it is indispensable, and it should be remarked that, 
unless for vase decoration it requires to be grown into goodly 
specimens before affording much effect out of doors; but 
when grown large in tubs, it is equally grand for the large 
conservatory and for important positions in the flower garden. 

RiciNus COMMUNIS (thc Castor-oil Plant). — When well 
grown in the open air, there is not in the whole range of 
cultivated plants a more imposing subject than this. It 
may have been seen nearly twelve feet high in the London 
parks of late years, and with leaves nearly a yard wide. It 



202 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS EOU THE FLOWEE, GARDEN. 



is true we require a bed of very ricli deep earth under it to 
make it attain sucli dimensions and beauty ; but in all 
parts^ and with ordinary attentioa^ it grows well. In warm 
countries^ in which the plant is very widely cultivated it 
becomes a small tree^ but is much prettier in the state in 
which it is seen with us — i.e., with an unbranched stem, 
clothed from top to bottom with noble leaves. Soon after 
it betrays a tendency to develope side-shoots, the cold 
autumn comes and puts an end to all further progress ; and 
so much the better, because it is much handsomer in a 
simple-stemmed state than any other. The same is true 
of not a few other large-leaved plants — once they break 
into a number of side-shoots their leaf beauty is to a great 
extent lost. In the planting out of some other subjects, it 
has been considered well to raise the beds on lime-rubbish, 
&c., or in other words, to build them upon it, sloping up 
the edge with soil and turf. But to grow this to perfection, 
the best way is to deeply excavate the bed, and place some 
rich stuff in the bottom, making all the earth as rich as 
possible. It is as easily raised from seed as the common 
bean, requiring, however, to be raised in heat. The Ricinus 
is a grand plant for making bold and noble beds near those 
of the more brilliant flowers, and tends to vary the flower 
garden finely. It is not well to closely associate it with 
bedding plants, in consequence of the strong growth and 
shading power of the leaves, so to speak. It is a good plan 
to make a compact group of the plant in the centre of some 
wide circular bed and surround it with a band of a dwarfer 
subject, say the Aralia or Caladium, and then finish with 
whatever arrangement of the flowering plants may be most 
admired. A bold and striking centre may be obtained, while 
the effect of the flowers is much enhanced, especially if the 
planting be nicely graduated and tastefully done. It is 
a judicious combination of both the green and the gay 
that we are most in want of, and few things can do so much 
to effect it for us in the flower garden as the common Castor- 
oil plant. This combination may be effected in any way 
that taste may direct. A graceful handsome-leaved subject 
in the centre of a flower bed will help it out, and so will 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS TOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 203 



bold groups of fine-leaved plants towards the outer parts of 
the flower garden. These bold masses connect in some 
degree the larger ligneous vegetation that usually surrounds 
our flower gardens with the small and low-lying brilliant 
flowers. For such groups the varieties of the Castor-oil 
plant are not likely to be surpassed. 

Seaforthia elegans. — This is perhaps the most elegant 
and useful of all palms which may be safely placed out in 
summer. It is too scarce as yet to be procurable by horti- 
culturists generally, but should be looked for by all who take 
an interest in these matters, and have a house in which to 
grow it. It stands well in the conservatory during the 
winter, though generally kept in the stove, where of course 
it grows beautifully. There are hardier kinds — the dwarf 
fan pahn for example, but on the whole none of them are so 
valuable as this. The following palms are suitable for like 
purposes : — Areca lutescens, Caryota urens, Caryota sobo- 
lifera, Chamserops humilis, Chamserops Fortunei, Chamserops 
Palmetto, Latania borbonica. Phoenix dactylifera. Phoenix 
sylvestris, Corypha australis. 

The Solanums. — This family, so wonderfully varied, 
affords numerous 

species that look Fia. 72. 



fine and imposing 
in leaf when in a 
young and free- 
growing state. In 
the nursery gar- 
den of the city of 
Paris there is a 
very large house 
entirely devoted 
to the family, in 
which are pre- 
served over the 
winter months 
more than sixty 
species for the 
embellishment of 




Solanum Warscewiczii. 



204 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



Parisian gardens. But in selecting examples from this great 
genus we must be mucli more careful, as our climate is 
a shade too cold for them^ and many of them are 
of too ragged an aspect to be tolerated in a tasteful 
garden. Half a dozen species or so are indispensable^ 
but quite a crowd of narrovv^-leaved and ignoble ones may 
well be dispensed with. The better kinds — as seen both in 



Fig. 73. 




Solanum robustum. 



London and Paris gardens — are marginatum^ robustum^ 
macranthum, macrophyllum, Warscewiczii^ crinipes_, calli- 
carpum, jubatum, Quitoense_, galianthum, hippoleucum, 
crinitum^ and Fontainesianum_, an annual with pretty 
leaves,, crisped and distinct looking. 

Most of these plants may be raised from seed^ while they 
are also freely grown from cuttings. As a rule hothouse 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 205 



treatment in winter is required,, and in summer ricL. light 
soilj a warm position^ and perfect shelter. S. marginatum^ 
planted in a very dwarf and young state^ furnishes a most dis- 
tinct and charming effect : it should be planted rather thinly, 
so that the leaves of one plant may not brush against those 
of another. If some very dwarf plants are used as a 
groundwork so much the better^ but the downy and silvery 
leaves of this plant are sure to please without this aid. It 
is very much better when thus grown than when permitted 
to assume the bush form. All the other kinds named are 
suitable for association with the larger leaved plants, though 
they do not attain such height and vigorous development as 
those of the first rank, like the Eicinus. 



Fig. 74. 




Uhdea bipinnatifida. 



Uhdea bipinnatifida. — This is one of the most useful 
plants in its class, producing a rich mass of handsome 
leaves, with somewhat the aspect of those of the great cow- 



206 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE ELOWER GARDEN. 



parsnips, but of a more refined type. The leaves are of a 
slightly silvery tone, and the plant continues to grow fresh 
and vigorously till the late autumn. It is freely propagated 
by cuttings taken from old plants kept in a very cool stove, 
greenhouse, or pit during the winter months, and placed in 
heat to afford cuttings the more readily in early spring. 
Under ordinary cutting treatment on hotbeds or in a moist 
warm propagating house, it grows as freely as could be 
desired, and may be planted out at the end of May or the 
beginning of June. It is well suited for forming rich 
masses of foliage, not so tall, however, as those formed by 
such things as Ricinus or Ferdinanda. 

Verbesina gigantea. — To this and other members of the 
family, somewhat the same remarks will serve as have 
been applied to the preceding. They require about the 
same treatment, and are useful in the production of like 
effects. They, like their fellows, will be much the better 
for as warm and sheltered a position and as rich and light 
a soil as can be conveniently given them. 

WiGANDiA MACROPHYLLA (caracasaua). — This noble plant, 
a native of the mountainous regions of New Granada, is 
unquestionably, from the nobility of its port and the mag- 
nificence of its leaves, entitled to hold a place among the 
finest plants of our gardens. Under the climate of London 
it has made leaves which have surprised all beholders, as 
well by their size as by their strong and remarkable veining 
and texture. It will be found to succeed very well in the 
midland and southern counties of England, though too 
much care cannot be taken to secure for it a warm sheltered 
position, free good soil, and perfect drainage. It may be 
used with superb effect either in a mass or as a single plant. 
It is frequently propagated by cuttings of the roots, and 
grown on in a moist and genial temperature through the 
spring months, keeping it near the light so as to preserve it 
in a dwarf and well clothed condition; and, like all the 
other plants in this class, it should be very carefully 
hardened off. It is, however, much better raised from 
cuttings of the shoots, if these are to be had. W. macro- 
phylla has the stems covered with short stinging hairs, 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS POR THE PLOWER GARDEN. 207 



and bearing brownish viscid drops, wbicb like oil adheres to 
the band when the stem is touched. Wigandia Vigieri is 
a plant of quick and vigorous growth, and remarkable habit. 
In the beginning of September, 1867, 1 measured a specimen 
with leaves three feet nine inches long, counting the leaf- 
stalk, and twenty-two inches across — the stem, nearly seven 
feet high and two inches in diameter, bearing a column of 



Fig. 75. 




Wigandia macropliylla (W. caracasana). 

such leaves. It is known at a glance from the popular 
and older W. macrophylla — by the leaves and the stems 
being covered in a greater degree with glossy, slender, 
stinging bodies. These are so thickly produced as to give 
the stems a glistening appearauce. W. urens is another 
species often planted, but decidedly inferior to either of the 
foregoing, except in power of stinging, in which way it is 
not likely to be surpassed. Seeds of the three species have 



208 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



been offered^ and all may be raised in that way — W. Vigieri 
with unusual facility. 

A select list of 100 of the subti'opical plants best suited for use 
in our climate. The most indispensable kinds are marked ^. 



1. *Acacia lophantta. 

2. *Agave americana. 

3. Agave americana 

variegata. 

4. Alsophila australis. 

5. excelsa. 

6. AnthuriumHookeri. 

7. Aralia macrophylla. 

8. „ *papyrifera. 

9. reticulata. 

10. Araucaria excelsa. 

11. Areca lutescens. 

12. Balantium culcitum. 

13. Bocconia frutescens. 

14. Brexia madagasca- 

riensis. 

15. *CaladiurQ esculen- 

tura. 

16. C. bataviense. 

17. Canna Annei su- 

perba, 

18. *robusta. 

19. „ *musffifolia 

hybrida. 

20. „ ^nigricans. 

21. „ *grandiflora 

floribunda. 

22. „ *Gdant. 

23. „ ^discolor flori- 

biinda. 

24. *metallica. 

25. „ *rubra super- 

bissima. 

26. Carludovica pal- 

mata. 

27. Caryota urens. 

28. „ sobolifera. 

29. Cassia corymbosa. 

30. tloribunda. 

31. Chamsepeuce dia- 

cantha. 

32. Chamasrops hurailis. 

33. „ *exce]sa. 

34. „ *Palmetto. 



35. Colea Commersoni. 

36. *Colocasiaodorata. 

37. *Cordyline indivisa. 

38. Corypba australis. 

39. Cyathea dealbata. 

40. *Cycas revoluta. 

41. Dahlia imperialis. 

42. Dicksonia antarc- 

tica. 

43. *Drac8ena australis. 

44. „ *indivisa. 

45. „ *Draco. 

46. *braziliensis. 

47. „ nutans. 

48. „ Eumplii. 

49. „ eritboracliis. 

50. „ *cannsefolia. 

51. „ *lineata. 

52. *Echeveria metal- 

lica. 

53. Erythrina crista - 

galli, and its va- 
rieties. 

54. *rerdinanda emi- 

nens, 

55. *Ficus elastica. 

56. „ nymphese- 

folia. 

57. „ Chauvieri. 

58. Hedychium auran- 

tiacum. 

59. „ Gardnerianum. 

60. Lomatia Bidwilli. 

61. ,, silaifolia, 

62. Lomatopbyllum bor- 

bonicum. 

63. *Melianthus major. 

64. Monstera deliciosa. 

65. *MusaEnsete. 

66. Neottopteris austra- 

lasica. 

67. Nicotiana wigan- 

dioides. 



68. !l?apyrusantiquorum, 

69. Philodendron Simsi. 

70. „ macropbyllum. 

71. Phoenix dactylifera. 

72. „ sylvestris. 

73. *Phormium tenax. 

74. Polymnia grandis. 

75. „ pyramidalis. 

76. Pothos acaulis. 

77. Ehopala corcova- 

dense. 

78. *Ricinus communis, 

in many varieties. 

79. Sanseviera zeyla- 

nica. 

80. *Seaforthiaelegans. 

81. Selinum decipiens. 

82. Senecio Ghies- 

bregbti, 

83. Senecio Petasites. 

84. Solanum crinipes. 

85. „ macranthum. 

86. „ macropbyllum. 

87. „ marginatum. 

88. „ robustum. 

89. „ Warscewiczii. 

90. Sonchus laciniatus. 

91. Sparmannia afri- 

cana. 

92. StadmanniaJonghii. 

93. Tradescantia dis- 

color. 

94. zebrina. 

95. Tupidanthus calyp- 

tratus. 
96- *Uhdea bipinnati- 
fida. 

97. Verbesina gigantea. 

98. „ *verbasci- 

folia. 

99. *Wigandia macro- 

phylla. 

100. „ Vigieri. 



List of the best twenty -four subtropical plants. 



1. Acacia lophantha. 

2. Agave americana. 

3. Aralia papyrifera. 

4. Caladium esculen- 

tum. 



5. Canna Annei su- 

perba. 

6. Chamserops excelsa. 

7. „ humilis, 

8. Cordyline indivisa. 



9, Cycas revoluta. 

10. Dracaena Draco. 

11. „ indivisa. 

12. Ferdinandaeminens. 

13. Ficus elastica. 



SUBTROPICAL PLANTS POR THE PLOWER GARDEN. 209 



14. ]\[eliantlius major, 

15. Musa Ensete. 

16. Pliormium tenax. 

17. Polymnia grandis. 

18. Eicinus communis. 



19. Seaforthia elegans. 

20. Solanum margina- 

tum. 

21. Warscewiczii. 



22. Ulidea bipinnatifida. 

23. Verbesina gigantea. 

24. Wigandia macro- 

plijUa. 



Subtropical plants that may be raised from seed. 



The best and readiest way to get up a stock of these 
plants is by raising them from seeds. Annuals^, like the 
Castor-oil plants must of course be raised from seeds in any 
case ; but a number of the very finest perennial kinds may 
also be raised thus with great facility and pleasure to the 
raiser^, in time quick enough to satisfy ordinary patience. 
And of those which cannot soon be grown to a presentable 
size from seeds like Palms^ Dracsenas, &c.^ it is yet very 
desirable to raise a batch, inasmuch as permanent dignified 
subjects like these are always of a greater value in any 
stage of their existence than the perishable rapid-growing 
subjects so usual with us. All the following have been 
ofiered in recent seed catalogues : — 



Abutilon, in variety. 
Acacia lophantba. 
Andropogon bombyci- 
nus. 

„ formosus. 

Sorghum. 
Aralia australis. 
„ elegans. 
J) papyrifera. 
„ Sieboldi. 
„ trifoliata. 
Areca sapida. 
Artemesia argentea. 
Bambusa Mmalaica. 
Bocconia cordata. 
„ formosa. 
„ frutescens. 
„ japonica. 
„ macrophylla. 
Brugmansia, in variety. 
Canna, in profuse variety. 
Cassia corymbosa. 

„ floribunda. 
CliamsepeuceCassabonse. 

diacantba. 
Chameerops bumilis. 

„ „ giauca. 

macrocarpa. 
Cineraria platanifolia. 



Cordyline indivisa vera, 
nutans „ 
superbicus. 
„ Veitcbii. 
Corypba australis. 
Cyperus vegetus. 
Dahlia imperialis. 
Erianthus Ravennse. 

,, violaceus. 
Erythrina caffra. 

crista-galli. 
Hendersoni, 
laurifolia. 
Eucalyptus globulus. 
Ferdinanda eminens. 
Grevillea robusta. 
Hedychium Gardneria- 

num. 
Humea elegans. 
Latania borbonica. 
Melianthus major. 

„ minor. 
Musa Ensete. 
Nicotiana grandiflora, a 
variety of N. tabacum. 

wigandioides. 
Owenia cerasifera. 
Paratropia tomentosa. 



Paratropia venulosa, 
Phormium tenax. 
Phytolacca dioica. 
Polymnia grandis. 
Eicinus, in variety. 
Seaforthia elegans. 
Solanum acantho- 
carpum. 

auriculatum. 
„ giganteum. 
„ glaucophyllum. 

glutinosum. 
„ lanceolatum. 
„ macrocarpum. 

macrophyllum. 
„ marginatum. 
„ pyracanthum. 
„ robustum. 
,, verbascifolium. 
Sonchus pinnatus. 
Sparmannia africana. 
Uhdea bipinnatifida. 
Verbesina verbascifoHa. 
Wigandia macrophylla. 
urens. 
Vigieri. 
Zea japonica variegata, 
and others. 



210 



CHAPTER XI. 

HAKDY PLANTS FOR THE SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 

This is a most important subject^ and concerns every lover 
of gardening in the British Isles ; for, however few can in- 
dulge in the luxury of rich displays of tender plants, or 
however rare the spots in which they may be ventured out 
with confidence^ all may enjoy those that are hardy_, and 
that too wdth infinitely less trouble than is required by the 
tender ones. Those noble masses of fine foliage first dis- 
played to us by tender plants have done much towards 
correcting a false taste. What I wish to impress upon the 
reader is^ that in whatever part of these islands he may live 
he need not despair of producing sufficient similar efiect to 
vary his flower garden or pleasure ground beautifully by the 
use of hardy plants alone ; and that the noble lines of a 
well-grown Yucca recurva_, or the finely chiselled yet fern- 
like spray of a graceful young conifer_, will aid him as much 
in this direction as anything that grows either in tropical 
or subtropical climes. The herbaceous collections in the 
Jardin des Plantes are very full^, and correctly kept ; and_, 
being much devoted to such plants_, I rarely spent a week 
without visiting them^ chiefly to discover useful members of 
this class ; while, of course, such as are used in the various 
public parks and gardens also came repeatedly under my 
observation. Of their relative importance and value I was, 
perhaps, the better prepared to judge from having visited 
for like purposes all the botanic gardens in the British Isles 
within the past few years. The following is the result of 
my observations as to the flnest subjects we can use : — 

Acanthus latifolius. — This is a plant that anybody can 
grow, and which is in all respects fine. The leaves are bold 
and noble in outline, and the plant has a tendency, rare in 



HARDY PLANTS FOR THE SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 211 



Fig. 



some hardy things with otherwise fine qualities^ to retain 
its leaves tiU the end of the season without losing a particle 
of its freshness and polished verdure. In fact, the only thing 
we have to decide about this subject is, what is the best 
place for it ? Now, it is one of those things that will not 
disgrace any position, and will prove equally at home in the 
centre of the 
mixed border, 
projected a little 
from the edge of 
a choice shrub- 
bery in the grass, 
or in the flower 
garden ; nobody 
need fear its dis- 
playing anything 
like the seediness 
which such things 
as the Heracleums 
show at the end 
of summer. In 
fact, few things 
turned out of the 
houses will fur- 
nish a more satis- 
factory efiect. I 
should not like 
to ad"vise its being 
planted in the cen- 
tre of a flowerbed, 
or in any other 
position where re- 
moval would be 

necessary ; but in case it were determined to plant permanent 
groups of fine-leaved hardy plants, then indeed it could be 
used with great success. Supposing we have an irregular kind 
of flower garden or pleasure ground to deal with (a common 
case everywhere), one of the best things to do with it is to 
plant it in the grass, at some little distance from the clumps, 

p 2 




Acanthus latifolius (lusitaiiicus). 



HAKDY PLANTS FOR THE 



and perhaps near a few other things of like cliaracter. It 
is better than any kind of Acanthns hitherto commonly 
cultivated in botanic gardens^ though one or two of these 
are fine. Give it deep good soil, and do not grudge it this 
attention, because, unlike tender plants, it will not trouble 
you again for a long time. A fine efi'ect would be produced 
by a ring of it around a strong clump of Tritomas (grandis 
in the middle, and glaucescens surrounding it), the very 
dark polished green Acanthus being in its turn surrounded 
by the fine autumn-flowering Sedum spectabile. There 
would be little difficulty in suggesting a dozen equally suit- 
able uses for this fine plant. It is to be had now in some 
London nurseries, and in nearly every Paris one. The plant 
best known by this name is also sold under that of A. 
lusitanicus. Both are garden names, the first the best. It 
came into cultivation in the neighbourhood of Paris about 
six or eight years ago, and has since spread about a good deal. 
Nobody seems to know from whence it came. Probably it 
is a variety of Acanthus mollis. The plant itself varies a 
good deal; I have seen specimens of it about a foot high, 
with leaves comparatively small and stifi* and rigid, as if 
cast in a mould, by the side of others of thrice that de- 
velopment, and of the usual texture. 

Andropogon squarrosum is a hardy plant in the neigh- 
bourhood of Paris, or survives with but slight protection, 
making luxuriant tufts seven feet high or more, when in 
flower. It would probably make a beautiful object in the 
warmer and milder parts of England and Ireland, and in 
good soil, but, unlike the preceding, it is not a subject which 
can with confidence be recommended for every garden. But 
all who value fine grasses should try it. 

Aralia edulis. — This is a vigorous plant, well suited 
for adding distinction to those positions in which we desire 
a luxuriant type of vegetation. It is perfectly hardy, grows 
six, seven, and even eight feet high in good soil, is of a fresh 
and vigorous habit, and even so early as the end of June. 
The leaves attain a length of nearly a yard when the plant 
is strong, while the shoots droop a little with their weight, 
and thus it acquires a slightly weeping character. It is a 



SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 



213 



little curious that plants so famous for their medicinal or 
other uses as the Castor-oil^ the Chinese rice-paper_, and the 
Indian-rubber plants,, should have become so useful as orna- 
ments in the garden. For this edible Aralia we may claim as 
high a position as a hardy plants and for planting singly few 
things surpass it. It is very rare in this country now^ but 
being easily propagated^ may, it is to be hoped, not long 
prove so. I have seen it nine feet high ; but as it dies down 
rather early in autumn it must not be put in important 
groups, but rather in a position where its disappearance may 
' not be noticed. An isolated place, or one near the margin 
of an irregular shrubbery, fernery, or rough rockwork by 
the side of a wood walk, will best suit. 

Aralia japonica. — ^-A hardy woody species, and fine plant 
for varying the garden, bearing immense and graceful leaves, 
and delighting most in a warm and sheltered position — 
plenty of sun, but little exposure to wind. It is best when 
the stem is rather short and simple, and has an advantage 
that few things of the kind possess — it may be used with a 
stem of considerable height, or with a very dwarf one. 

Aralia spinosa, the angelica tree of North America, and 
resembling the preceding, is higlily useful in this class, in 
consequence of its 
beauty of foliage 
and distinct aspect. 
Like many of the 
hardy things, it 
should be placed in 
positions where it 
would not be ne- 
cessary to remove 
it, or closely asso- 
ciate it with tender 
plants requiring 
frequent distur- 
bance of soil. Both 
this and the prece- 
ding kind may be 
hadin our nurseries. 



Fig. 77. 




Aralia Sieboldi. 



214 



HAPcDY PLANTS FOR THE 



Akalia Sieboldi is also a valuable species^ usually treated 
as a greentiouse plant. It is perfectly hardy around Paris 
and London^ at least on warm soils_, and it not only remains 
healthful in living rooms during winter^ but grows freely in 
them. 

AauNDo DONAx^ the great reed of the south of Europe^ is 
a very noble plant on good soils. In the south of Eng- 
land it forms canes ten feet high, and has a very distinct 
and striking aspect. It will do more than that if put in a 
rich deep soil in a favoured locality ; and those who so plant 
clumps of it on the turf in their pleasure grounds will not 
be disappointed at the result. Nothing can be finer than 
the aspect of this plant when allowed to spread out into a 
mass on the turf of the flower garden or pleasure ground. It 
seems much to prefer dry sandy soils to moist ones ; indeed, 
I have known it refuse to grow on heavy clay soil, and 
flourish most luxuriantly on a deep sandy loam in the same 
district. Like all large-leaved plants, it loves shelter. No 
garden or pleasure ground in the southern parts of England 
and Ireland should be without a tuft of it in a sheltered spot. 
But, fine as it is for effect and distinctness, its variegated 
variety is of more value to the flower garden proper. 

Arundo donax versicolor. — This is a remarkably efi'ec- 
tive and beautiful plant, that is made little or no use of. 
We have already noticed several fine things for grou23ing 
together, or for standing alone on the turf and near the 
margin of a shrubbery border; and this is as well suited 
for close association with the choicest bedding flowers as an 
Adiantum frond is with a bouquet. It will be found hardy 
in the southern counties ; and considerably north of London 
may be saved by a little mound of cocoa-fibre, sifted coal 
ashes, or any like material that may be to spare. In con- 
sequence of its effective variegation, it never assumes a large 
development, like the green or normal form of the species, 
but keeps tidy and low, and yet thoroughly graceful. It is 
of course suited best for warm, free, and good soils, and 
abhors clay, though it is quite possible to grow it even on 
that with a little attention to the jjreparation of the ground. 
But it is in all cases better to avoid things that will not 



I 



1 

J 

■i 

I 

i 



i 

1 

•i 



PLATE XXXIII. 




BAMBUSA FALCATA. 



SUBTROPICAL GAUDEN. 



215 



grow freely and gracefully on whatever soil we may have to 
deal with ; and it is to those having gardens on good sandy 
soils_, and in the warmer parts of England^ that I would 
specially recommend this grand variegated subject. For a 
centre to a circular bed^ nothing can surpass it in the 
summer and autumn flower garden^ while of course many 
other charming uses may be made of it. Not the least 
happy of these would be to plant a tuft of it on the green 
grass^ in a warm spot_, near a group of choice slirubs_, to 
help_, with many other things named, to fill up the gap 
between ordinary fleeting flowers, and the taller shrub and 
tree vegetation that is now nearly everywhere observed. It 
is better to leave the plant in the ground, in a permanent 
position, than to take it up annually. Protect the roots in 
the winter, whether it be planted in the middle of a flower 
bed or by itself in a little circle on the grass. 

Arundo conspicua is a worthy companion for the Pam- 
pas, though by no means equal to it, as has been stated by 
some writers. As a conservatory subject it is fine in flower, 
and it will be seen often in large conservatories after a few 
years. A large pot or tub will be necessary if grown 
indoors. The drooping leafage will always prove graceful, 
and then it sends up long silvery plumes, drooping also, and 
strikingly beautiful. Judging by its difi"erent appearance 
when freely grown in a tub indoors, and when planted out 
even on favourable spots, my impression is that it by no 
means takes so kindly to our northern climate as the 
Pampas grass. However, it is well worth growing, even in 
districts where it does not attain great development ; it 
comes in flower before the Pampas, and may be considered 
as a sort of forerunner of that magnificent herb. 

Eambusa viridis-glaucescens, and others. — I wish to call 
the attention of all horticulturists who live in the southern 
and more favoured parts of these islands to the fact that 
there are several bamboos and bamboo-like plants from 
rather cool countries that are well worth planting. Nothing 
can exceed the grace of a bamboo of any kind if freely 
grown ; but if starved in a dirty hot-house, or grown in a 
cold dry place, where the graceful shoots cannot arch forth 



216 



HARDY PLANTS FOR THE 



in all their native beauty nothing can be more miserable in 
aspect. On cold bad soils and exposed dry places in the 
British Isles^ these bamboos have little chance ; but^ on the 
other hand;, they will be found to make most graceful 
objects in many a sheltered nook in the south and south- 



FiG. 78. 




Bambusa aurea. 



western parts of England and Ireland. Nowadays there is 
a growing taste for something else than mere colour in the 
flower garden_, and these will in many cases be found a 
graceful help. We have some knowledge of the capabilities 
of one kind in this country. In a well sheltered moist 



SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 



217 



spot at Bicton many have seen Bambusa falcata send up 
young shoots,, long and graceful, like the slenderest of 
fishing-rods, while the older ones were branched into a 
beautiful mass of light foliage of a distinct type. The same 
plant has been grown in the county of Cork to a height of 
nearly twenty feet. This is the best known kind we have. 
At Paris I was fortunate enough to observe several other 
kinds doing very well indeed, although the climate is not so 
suitable as that of Cork or Devon. These are Bambusa edulis^ 
aurea, nigra^ Simmonsii, mitis, Metake, and viridis-glauces- 
cens, the first and last of this group being very free and good. 
All the others will prove hardy in the south of England and 
Ireland, though, as some of them have not yet been tried 
there, it requires the test of actual experiment. Those who 
wish to begin cautiously had better take B. Simmonsii, 
viridis-glaucescens, nigra, and edulis to commence with, as 
they are the most certainly hardy, so far as I have observed. 
The best way to treat any of these plants, obtained in 
summer or autumn, would be to grow them in a cool frame 
or pit till the end of April, then harden them ofi* for a fort- 
night or so, and plant out in a nice warm spot, sheltered also, 
with good free soil — taking care that the roots are carefully 
spread out, and giving a good free watering to settle the soil. 
There are no plants more worthy of attention than these where 
the climate is at all favourable, and there are numerous moist 
nooks around the British Isles where they will be found to 
grow most satisfactorily. The pretty little Bambusa For- 
tunei is also harcly. 

Among the Centaureas there are a few subjects which 
might be used among hardy fine-leaved plants, but by far 
the most distinct and remarkable is the very silvery-leaved 
C. babylonica. This is quite hardy, and when planted in 
good ground shoots up strong spikes clad with yellow flowers 
to a height of ten or twelve feet. The bloom is not by any 
means so attractive as the leaves ; but the plant is at all 
times picturesque. 

Beta cicla var. ('^^ Chilian Beet^^). — Under the name 
Chilian Beet^'' a very showy plant may have been seen in 
the neighbourhood of Paris during the past two years. 



218 



HARDY PLANTS FOR THE 



Fia. 79. 




When well grown the leaves are often more than a yard 
long^ and present a vivid and most striking coloration. 

Their midribs reach 
fonr inches or more 
across^ and vary from a 
dark deep waxy orange 
to vivid polished crim- 
son. The splendid hue 
of the lower part of the 
leaf stalks flows on to- 
wards the point; and 
spreads in smaller 
streams through the 
main veins and ramifi- 
cations of the great soft 
blades of the leaf, often 
a foot and even fifteen 
inches in diameter^ if 
the plant be in rich 
ground. The under 
sides of the leaves are 
the most richly colour- 
ed; and the habit such 
that these sides are well 
seen. It requires the 
treatment of an annual 
— to be raised in a 
gently heated frame^ 
and afterwards planted 
out in very rich ground^ 
though it may also be 
kept over the winter in pots. It varies a good deal from 
seed; and the most striking individuals should be selected 
before the plants are put out. Used sparingly, its eficct 
would perhaps be more telling than if in quantity,, and it is 
well suited for isolation — that is to say^ placing singly on the 
grass near a clump of shrubs. Everybody who values a 
really distinct object in the flower garden should have it. 
During the past season it attained splendid dimensions and 



V 



Centaurea babylonica. 



SUETHOPICAL GARDEN. 



219 



colouring in the nursery department of tlie Jardin des 
PlanteSj and it doubtless will soon be seen everywhere 
with us. 

CHAMiEROPS ESCELSA. — It may not be generally known 
that this palm is perfectly hardy in this country. A plant 
of it in her Majesty^s gardens at Osborne has attained a 
considerable height. It is also out at Kew, though pro- 
tected in winter. On the water side of the high mound in 



Fip. no 




the Eoyal Botanic Gardens^ Regent^s Park, it is in even 
better health than at Kew^, though it has not had any pro- 
tection for years_, and stood the fearfully hard frost of 
1860. If small plants of this are procured^ it is better to 
grow them on freely for a year or two in the greenhouse, 
and then turn out in April, spreading the roots a little and 
gi-vdng deep loamy soil. Plant in a sheltered place, so that 
the leaves may not be injured by winds when they get large 



220 



HARDY PLANTS POR THE 



and grow up. A gentle hollow^ or among shrubs on the 
sides of some sheltered glade^ will prove the best places. 
The establishment of a palm among our somewhat mono- 
tonous shrubbery and garden vegetation is surely worthy 
of a little trouble,, and the precautions indicated will prove 
quite sufhcient. 

Crambe cordifolia. — This is unquestionably one of the 
finest of perfectly hardy and large-leaved herbaceous plants. 
It is as easily grown as the common Seakale — easier^ if 
anything ; and in heavy rich ground makes a splendid head 
of leaves^ surmounted in summer by a dense spray of very 
small flowers. Doubtless^ if these be pinched off, a larger 
development of the fine glossy leaves may be expected^ but 
as the shoots are so vigorously shot up and converted into 
a distinct and pretty inflorescence^ many will prefer to 
leave the plant to nature.^"* In planting it/ the deeper 
and richer the soil^ the finer the result. It will prove a 
capital thing for every group of fine-leaved hardy plants^ 
and may also be planted wherever a bold though low 
type of vegetation is desired. There is another species^ 
C. juncea^ which is also eff'ectivCj but not so valuable as 
C. cordifolia. 

Cucui^iis PERENxis (Perennial Cucumber). — This has not 
the quality of leaf which we could desire^ but it will prove 
interesting to many. It is perfectly hardy^ and possesses^, 
so to speak^ great trailing power. Its leaves are strong, 
roughs and of a glaucous colour ; and the shoots run about 
freely if the plant be in very rich soil. Where bold trailing 
plants for high trellis-work^ or rough banks^ or shaggy 
rockwork are desired^ it will be found distinct ; but withal 
we cannot give it a place in the front rank^ and the small 
select garden without any of the above-mentioned appen- 
dages will certainly be better without it. For the botanical 
garden and curious collections it is indispensable. It is 
strong and lasting when well established^ and may be 
allowed to fall over rough banks^ stumps^ or be trained up 
trellis-work^ &c. 

Datisca cannabixa. — The male plant of this has 
long been known as a very strong and effective herb — 



SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 



221 



graceful too ; but I saw female plants associated with males 
for the first time in the Jardin des Plantes_, and since then 
I have a higher opinion of the species. The female plant 
remains green much longer than the male, and being pro- 
fusely laden with fruit,, each shoot droops and the whole 
plant improves in aspect. It must not be forgotten in any 
selection of hardy plants of free growth and imposing 
aspect. From seed will probably be found the best way to 
raise it, and then one would be pretty sure of securing 
plants of both sexes. 

Elymus arenarius. — This wild British grass — a strong- 
rooting and most distinct-looking herb — is capable of adding 
a striking feature to the garden here and there, and should 
be quickly introduced to civilization. Planted a short dis- 
tance away from the margin of a shrubbery, or on a bank 
on the grass, and allowed to have its own way in deep soil, 
it makes a most striking object. In short, it deserves to 
rank fourth among really hardy big grasses, the Pampas 
and the two Arundos alone preceding it. I am not quite 
certain that it is not more useful than the Arundo, being 
hardy in all parts of these islands. In very good soil 
it will grow four feet high, and as it is for the leaves we 
should cultivate it, if the flowers are removed they will be 
no loss. It is found frequently on our shores, but more 
abundantly in the north than in the south. The variety 
called geniculatus, which has the spike pendulous, is also 
worthy of culture, and in its case the flowers may prove worth 
preserving. It may possibly be useful for covert, and is 
certainly so for rough spots in the pleasure ground and in 
semi-wild places. 

The Ferulas. — I wish it were not necessary to write in 
praise of such very fine plants as these, so noble in aspect 
and beautiful in leaf. If you grow 2000 kinds of herbaceous 
plants, the first things that show clearly above the ground 
in the very dawn of spring (even in J anuary) are their deep 
green and most elegant leaves. In good garden soil they 
look like masses of Leptopteris superba, that most exquisite 
of ferns. Their chief charm will probably be found to 
consist in their furnishing masses of the freshest green and 



222 



HARDY PLANTS TOR THE 



Ligliest grace in early spring'. The leaf is apt to lose some 
of its beauty and fade away early in autumn^ but this may 
to some extent be retarded by cutting out tbe fioyer- 
bearing slioots tlie moment tbey appeai\ ^ot tliat tliese 
are ngly ; for_, on the contrary^ the plants are fine and 
striking when in flower. It is indispensable that the 
PerulaSj like some other hardy foliaged plants^ be planted 



Pig. 81. 




Perula communis. 

permanently and well at first, as it is only when they are 
thoroughly established that you get their full efiect. At a 
first yiew, the best way to treat them would appear to be^ 
so to arrange them that they would be succeeded by things 
that flower in autumn^ and only begin their rich gi'owth in 
early summer ; but it will be equally wise to plant them 
near the margin of a shrubbery, where it is desired to haye 
a diyersified and bold type of yegetation. In the rougher 



SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 



223 



and more solid ground^ so to speak^ near large rockwork or 
rootworkj tkey would of course prove grand. The Hera- 
cleums_, so often recommended in garden Hteratnre for 
planting near water, &c., are mere coarse rags compared to 
the Ferulas, wnile tke Ferulas may be used in the places 
recommended for Heracleums. We may look forward to 
the day when a far greater variety of form will be seen in 
English gardens than is at present observable, and these 
Ferulas are thoroughly well worth growing for their superb 
spring and early summer effect. The best species are 
E. communis, tingitana, and neapolitana. Probably a few 
others, including sulcata, ferulago, and glauca, may with 
advantage be added where variety is sought, but the effect 
of any of the first three cannot be surpassed. Among 
"aspects of vegetation^'' which we may enjoy in these cold 
climes, nothing equals that of their grand leaves, pushing 
up with the snowdrop. In semi-wild spots, where spring 
fiowers abound, it will prove a most tasteful and satisfac- 
tory plan to drop a Eerula here and there in a sunny spot, 
and leave it to nature and its own good constitution ever 
afterwards. 

Gynerium argenteum (the Pampas Grass). — This is so 
•well known to the reader that there is no excuse for naming 
it here, except the opportunity to say a few words as to the 
splendid use we may make of it in the branch of gardening 
we are now discussing. It is to the Dublin Botanic 
Gardens we owe the introduction of this noble plant, now 
much grown in eveiy country where oruamental gardening- 
is pursued. It really deserves as much attention as any 
plant in cultivation, and yet how rarely is any thorough 
preparation made for its perfect development. A paltry 
class of tender plants may cost more labour and time in 
the course of a few months than would suffice to plant a 
field of the Pampas grass, yet such a glorious thing as this 
may be put in with a barrowful of mould to start on a bad 
soil, and then perhaps planted by the water or some other 
secondary spot called its proper place.^^ What is there 
growing in garden or in wild more nobly distinct and 
beautiful than the great silvery plumes of this plant vraving 



224 



HARDY PLANTS FOR THE 



in the autumnal gusts — tlie burial plnmes as it were of our 
summer too early dead ? WTiat tender plant so effective as 
tliis in giving a new aspect of vegetation to our gardens^ if 
it be tastefully placed and well-grown ? Long before it 
flowers it possesses more merit for its foliage and babit tban 
scores of things cultivated indoors for tbeir effect — Dasyli- 

FiG. 82. 




rions; &c., for examj^le^ and it would be well worthy of 
being extensively used if one of its silken-crested wands 
never put forth in autumn. It is not enough to j)lace it 
in out-of-the-way spots — the general scene of every garden 
and pleasure ground should be influenced by it ; it should 
be x^lanted even far more extensively than it is at present^ 



SUBTKOPICAL GARDEN. 



225 



and given very deep and good soil either natural or made. 
The soils of very many gardens are insufficient to give it 
the highest degree of strength and vigoui', and no plant 
better repays for a thorough preparation^ which ought to 
be the more freely given when it is considered that the one 
preparation suffices for many years. If convenient^ give it a 
somewhat sheltered position in the flower garden^ so as to 
prevent as much as possible that ceaseless searing away of 
the foliage which occurs wherever the plant is much ex- 
posed to the breeze. We rarely see such fine specimens as 
in quiet nooks where it is pretty well sheltered by the 
surrounding vegetation. It is very striking to come upon 
noble specimens in such quiet green nooks ; but,, as before 
hinted, to leave such a magnificent plant out of the flower 
garden proper is a decided mistake. 

Helianthus orgyalis. — They use this in some parts of 
the Continent as an ornamental-leaved plant in the pleasure 
ground, &c. It is as hardy as the common dandelion, 
grows to a considerable height, and is of a very distinct 
habit. Its distinction arises from the fact that the leaves 
are recurved in a peculiarly graceful manner. At the top 
of the shoots, indeed, their aspect is most striking, from 
springing up in great profusion and then bending gracefully 
down. It will form a capital subject for the group of fine- 
leaved, hardy plants, not running through the ground and 
requiring all the room for itself to spread about. As it is apt 
to come up rather thickly, the cultivator will act judiciously 
by thinning out the shoots when very young, so that those 
which remain may prove the stronger and the better 
furnished with leaves. 

The Heracleums. — These are pretty well known for the 
rapid vigour and great size of their herbaceous vegetation ; 
but they are as a rule too coarse, and decay too early in 
summer, to be used in the flower garden or pleasure ground. 
They may, however, be employed with advantage where a 
robust and picturesque vegetation is desired in half wild 
spots on islands, and for furnishing distant efi'ects. 

Hibiscus roseus. — This is a very noble hardy perennial, 
growing from four to six feet high about Paris, and having 

Q 



226 



HARD! PLANTS FOR THE 



the upper part of eacli of its abundant shoots set thickly 
with buds which produce flowers fully six inches across^ of 
a showy rose colour, with straight deeply coloured veins 
running from the rich dark crimson base of the petals, and 
gradually becoming lost towards the margin. There is 
reason to think it thoroughly hardy, and it is well worth a 
trial in good soil in the southern and milder parts of Eng- 
land and Ireland. The show it makes in autumn is really 

Fig. 83. 




Heracleum flavescens. 



very fine, and it will probably be found a grand thing for 
association with noble autumn flowers, like the Tritoma and 
Pampas grass. As regards leaf efi'ect, it is scarcely sub- 
tropical — to use again that awkward term — and should 
perhaps be classed with showy herbaceous plants ; but as 
it was used with pretty good efl'ect in one of the Paris 



I 



SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 227 

parks, I name it here. It should have a warm position,, and 
deep, rich, and light soil. 

Macleaya cordata. — This is a fine plant in free soil, but 
comparatively poor in that which is bad or very stiff. It 
is quite distinct in habit and tone, and sometimes goes 
beyond six feet high. The flowers are not in themselves 
• pretty, but the inflorescence when the plant is well grown 
has a distinct and pleasing appearance. It will prove a 
good thing for associating with other fine hardy plants 
suitable for making bold groups. With some of the things 
before named, and with other perfectly hardy plants, there 
should be no difliculty in producing as bold and striking 
groups of vegetation as any ever seen either with us or in 
Paris, and afi'orded by costly and tender exotics requiring 
winter protection. 

Melianthus major. — This is usually treated as a green- 
house plant, and is sometimes put out of doors in summer. 
So grown, how- 
ever, the full 
beauty of the 
plant has not time 
to develope ; and 
much the better 
way is to treat it 
as a hardy subject, 
putting it out in 
some sunny and 
sheltered spot, 
where the roots 
will not sufi'er 
from wet in win- 
ter. The shoots 
will be cut down 
with frost, but the 
root will live and 
push up strong 
ones in spring, 
forming by midsummer a bush of very distinct and beautiful 
leaves. I have grown it in this way to a much more pre- ^ 

Q 2 { 



Fig. 84. 




Melianthus major. 



1 



228 



HARDY PLANTS TOR THE 



sentable condition tlian it ever assumes indoors^ "where it is 
usually drawn too mucli. I used to protect the roots in winter 
by placing leaves over them^ and then covering all with a 
handlight^ but have seen the plant sundve without this pre- 
caution. It is^ however^ best to make quite sure by using 
protection^ except where the soil and climate are parti- 
cularly favourable. 

MoLOPospERMUM cicuTARiuM.- — There is a deep-green 
and fernlike beauty displayed profusely by some of the 
umbelliferous family^ but I have rarely met with one so 
remarkably attractive as this species. Many of the class^ 
while very elegant^ perish quickly, get shabby indeed by 
the end of June_, and are therefore out of place in the 
tasteful flower garden ; but this is firm in character, of a 




Fia. 85. 



dark rich green, 
stout yet spreading 
in habit, growing 
more than a yard 
high, and making 
altogether a most 
pleasing bush. It is 
perfectly hardy, a 
native of Carniola, 
easily increased by 
seed or division, but 
very rare just now. 
I dou.bt if it is even 
in our botanic gar- 
dens, but hope to see 
it in cultivation ere 
long. 



NiCOTIANA MA- 

CROPHYLLA. — This is 
simply a garden name 
for a fine large va- 
riety of the common 
Tobacco. As it is so 
readily raised from 
seed, and grows luxu- 



STJBTKOPICAL GARDEN. 



229 



riantly in ricli soil, I need not say it is a very desirable 
subject for association with tbe Castor-oil plant and the 
like, and especially suited for tbe many who desire plants 
of noble habit, but who cannot preserve the tender ones 
through the winter under glass. The flowers are very 
ornamental. It should be raised on a hotbed_, and put out 
in May. 

Panicu-m bulbosum is a tall and strong grass, with a free 
and beautiful inflorescence. It grows about five feet high, 
and the flowers are very gracefully spread forth. It forms 
an elegant plant for the flower garden in which grace and 
variety are sought; for dotting about here and there, near 
the margins of shrubberies, &c. ; and indeed for the sake of 
its flowers alone. P. virgatum is also a good bold grass. 
Both of these may be raised from seed, and are well worthy 
of cultivation. 

Phytolacca decandra. — The true plant of this name 
forms a very free and vigorous mass of vegetation, and, 
though perhaps scarcely refined enough in leaf to justify its 
being recommended for flower garden use, no plant is more 
worthy of a place wherever a rich herbaceous vegetation is 
desired; whether near the rougher approaches of a hardy 
fernery, open glades near woodland walks, or any like 
positions. 

Polygonum cuspidatum. — This is an unusually large 
herbaceous species of a genus which, as cultivated in our 
botanical collections, does not appear likely to afford an 
elegant or a graceful subject for our gardens. But it is 
one of the best hardy things which can be recommended 
for their embellishment. The growth is rapid, the size 
unusual, perhaps eight or ten feet in very good soil, and the 
bearing of the plant not at any season shabby. It is 
covered with flowers in autumn. The same plant is often 
called P. Sieboldi, and frequently sold by that name. 
When planted singly, and away from other subjects, its 
head assumes a rather peculiar and pretty arching character, 
and therefore it is not quite fit for forming centres or using 
in groups, so much as for planting singly on the turf, there 
leaving it to take care of itself and come up year after year. 



230 



HARDY PLANTS TOR THE 



In this way it would "be particular^ useful in the pleasure 
gi'ound or diversified English flower garden. It is also 
good for any position in which a bold and distinct type 
of vegetation is desired,, while of course, when we come 
to have fine groups of hardy " foliage plants in our 
gardens, its use will be much extended. The deeper and 



Fia. S6. 




Elieum Emodi. 



better the soil, the finer will its development prove. You 
cannot make the soil too deep and good if you want the 
plant to assume a striking character. As with tender 
plants we have no end of attention to bestow, often daily, 
the time and labour necessary to weU prepare the ground 
for a hardy subject should never be grudged. This plant 
will probably be also found useful for game covert. It is 



SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 



231 



easily procured in our nurseries^ and tliere is^ or nsed to be, 
plenty of it at Kew. 

E-HEUM Emodi. — The E/hnbarbs, from their vigour and pic- 
turesqueness, are well worthy of cultivation among hardy, 
fine-leaved plants. Some of the common kinds have 
recently been placed in our parks, but the most striking 
and distinct of the introduced kinds is the Himalayan 
E/heum Emodi, and it is the one that is seldomest seen. 

Rhus glabra laciniata. — I have known this plant for 
about three years as a subject of much promise for garden 
decoration, and can confidently recommend it as one of the 
most useful and elegant dwarf shrubs we can employ to 
furnish an attractive eff'ect. It is a small kind, with finely- 
cut and elegant leaves, the strongest being about a foot long 
when the plants have been established a year or two. 
"When seen on a nicely established plant, these leaves com- 
bine the beauty of those of the finest Grevillea, with a fern 
frond, while the youngest and unfolding leaves remind one 
of the dainty ones of a finely cut umbelliferous plant in 
spring. The variety observable in the shape, size, and 
aspect of the foliage makes the plant charming to look 
upon, while the midribs of the fully grown leaves are red, 
and in autumn the whole glow off into bright colour after the 
fashion of American shrubs and trees. During the entire 
season it is presentable, and there is no fear of any vicissi- 
tude of weather injuring it. Its great merit is that, in 
addition to being so elegant in foliation, it has a very dwarf 
habit, and is thoroughly hardy. Plants at three years old 
and undisturbed for the past two years are not more than 
eighteen inches high. The heads are slightly branched, but 
are not a whit less elegant than when in a simple-stemmed 
and young state, so that here we have clearly a subject that 
will afford a charming fernlike effect in the full sun, and 
add graceful verdure and distinction to the flower garden. 
When the flowers show after the plant is a few years old 
they may be pinched off, and this need only be mentioned 
in the case of permanent groups or plantings of it. To 
produce the effect of a Grevillea or fern on a small scale, we 
should of course keep this graceful Khus small, and propa- 



232 



HARDY PLANTS YOn THE 



gate it like a bedding plant. The graceful mixtures and 
bouquet-like beds that might be made with the aid of such 
plants need not be suggested here^ while of course an estab- 
lished plant, or groups of three^ might well form the centre 
of a bed. Planting a very small bed or group separately in 
the flower garden^ and many other uses which cannot be 
enumerated herC;, will occur to those who have once tried it. 
Some hardy plants of fine foliage are either so rampant or so 
top heavy that they cannot be wisely associated with 
bedding-plants. This is^ on the contrary^ as tidy and tract- 
able a grower as the most fastidious could desire. It 
would be a pity to put such a pretty plant under or near 
rough trees and shrubs. Give it the full sun_, and good 
free soil. 

The Tritomas. — So hardy, so magnificent in colouring, 
and so fine and pointed in form are these plants, that we 
can no more dispense with their use in the garden where 
beauty of form as well as colour is to prevail, than we can 
with the noble Pampas grass. They are more conspicuously 
beautiful when other things begin to succumb before the 
gusts and heavy rains of autumn, than any plants which 
flower in the bright days of midsummer. It is not alone as 
component parts of large back ribbons and in such positions 
that these grand plants are useful, but in almost any part 
of the garden. Springing up as a bold close group on the 
green turf and away from brilliant surroundings, they are more 
efi'ective than when associated with bedding plants ; and of 
course many such spots may be found for them near the 
margins of the shrubberies in the generality of pleasure 
grounds. It is as an isolated group flaming up amid the 
verdure of trees and shrubs and grass that their dignified 
aspect and brilliant colour are seen to best advantage. 
However, tastefully disposed in the flower garden, they will 
prove generally useful, and particularly for association with 
the finer autumn-flowering herbaceous plants. It seems we 
do not sufficiently appreciate the advantage of good hardy 
plants, however much we may grumble at the consumption of 
coals. Here are the finest of all autumnal flowers, never 
causing a farthing of expense for wintering, storing, or re- 



SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 



233 



Fig. 87. 



plantings but merely asking for a little ordinary preparation of 
the soil at firsthand yet they are merely grown as adjuncts even 
in good gardens, and in 
many you can scarcely 
find them. For every 
quality that should 
make a plant valuable 
in the eyes of the 
flower gardener J they 
cannot be surpassed by 
any subjects that re- 
quire expensive care 
all through the winter ; 
indeed we may say they 
cannot be equalled by 
any of such — a suffi- 
cient proof that it is 
not only those who 
possess stoves, green- 
houses, and glass-gar- 
dens, so to speak, that 
may enjoy the highest 
beauty in their gardens. 

A most satisfactory 
ciatinsr these Tritomas 




Anemone japonica alba. 



result may be produced by asso- 
with the Pampas and the two 
Arundos, the large Statice latifolia, and the strong and 
beautiful autumn-flowering Anemone japonica alba. This 
is peculiarly suited for association with hardy herbaceous 
plants of fine habit, and should be in every garden where a 
hardy flower is valued. 

Verbascum vernale. — Most of us know how very dis- 
tinct and imposing are the larger Verbascums, and those 
who have attempted their culture must soon have found out 
what transient far-seeding things they are. Of a biennial 
character, their culture is most unsatisfactory : they either 
migrate into the adjoining shrubbery or disappear altogether. 
The possession of a thoroughly noble perennial one must 
therefore be a desideratum, and such a plant will be found 
in the Hungarian Verbascum vernale. This is fine in leaf 



234 



HARDY PLANTS FOR THE 



and stature^ and produces abundance of flowers. The lower 
leaves grow eighteen or twenty inches long^ and the plant 
when in flower to a height of seven or eight feet^ or even 
more when in good soil. It is a truly distinct subject for 
helping us to variety^ and may^ it is to be hoped^ ere long 
be found in our gardens and nurseries. At present it is a 
scarce plant in England_, and perhaps not to be had in 
many of our nurseries or botanic gardens^ though it is cer- 
tainly the best known plant of the genus to us in cultiva- 
tion. I first saw it in the Jardin des Plantes. 

The Yuccas. — ^Among all the hardy plants ever introduced 
to this country none surpass for our present purpose the 
various kinds of Yucca, or " Adams's Needle/"' as it is some- 
times called. There are several species hardy and well 
suited for flower garden purposes,, and, more advantageous 
still, distinct from each other. The efiect afi'orded by them, 
when well developed, is equal to that of any hot-house plant 
that we can venture in the open air for the summer, while 
they are hardy and presentable at all seasons. They may 
be used in any style of garden ; may be grouped together on 
rustic mounds, or in any other way the taste of the planter 
may direct. The best perhaps, considering its graceful and 
noble habit, is Y. pendula, which is simply invaluable in 
every garden. Old and well established plants of it standing 
alone on the grass are pictures of grace and symmetry, from 
the lower leaves which sweep the ground to the central ones 
that point up as straight as a needle. It is amusing to 
thinli of people putting tender plants in the open air, and 
running with sheets to protect them from the cold and rain 
of early summer and autumn, while perhaps not a good 
specimen of this fine thing is to be seen in the place. There 
is no plant more suited than this for planting between and 
associating with flower beds. Next we have Y. gloriosa, 
more pointed in habit and rigid in style, and also large 
and imposing in proportions. Lacking the grace of pendula, 
it makes up for it to some extent by boldness of efi'ect, 
while, like the preceding, it sometimes sends up a huge 
mass of flower. Y. gloriosa varies very much when grown 
from seed — a good recommendation, as the greater variety of 



SUBTROPICAL GAUDEN. 



235 



fine form we have the better. Then there is Y. glaucescens, 
with a sea-green foliage, and rather free to flower, the buds 
being of a pink tinge, which tends to give the whole in- 
florescence a peculiarly pleasing tone. This is a first-class 



Fig. 8S. 




Yucca pendula. 



plant. Y. filamentosa is smaller than these^ but one which 
flowers with much vigour and beauty. It is well worth 
cultivating in every garden ; not only in the flower garden 
or pleasure ground^ but also on the rough rockwork^ or any 



236 



HARDY PLANTS FOR THE 



spot requiring a distinct type of hardy vegetation^ and so is 
its fine though delicate variegated variety. Yucca flaccida is 

somewhat in the 
way of this, but 
smaller. It flow- 
ers even more 
abundantly and 
regularly than 
filamentosa, and 
is well worthy of 
cultivation. The 
preceding spe- 
cies, if not so 
r much used in our 
^ gardens as they 
deserve, are at 
all events known 
in them. The 

following I met with for the first time in Parisian gardens : — 

Fig. 90. 




Yucca filamentosa variegata. 




Stalice latifolia. 



Y. lutescens is a species of neat habit and slightly yellowish 
tone of shining green, and very distinct. Y. flexilis is an 



SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 



237 



ornamental^ though not large growing kind. Y. stricta is a 
rigid species scarcely so effective as the preceding; and Y. 
angustifolia has naiTow pointed leaves and a distinct habit. 
Y. Treculeana is a very noble species,, which will be found 
perfectly hardy on good soil and in warm situations. It has 
deeply furrowed and very large rigid leaves,, and is well worthy 
of culture even in a cool house, in which it is sometimes kept 
in this country. If we had but this family alone, our efforts 
to produce an agreeable effect with hardy plants need not 
be fruitless. The freely flowering kinds, filamentosa and 
flaccida, may be associated with any of our nobler autumn 
flowering plants, from the Gladiolus to the great Statice 
latifolia. The species that do not flower so often, like 
pendula and gloriosa, are simply magnificent as regards their 
effect when grown in the full sun and planted in good soil ; 
and I need not say bold and handsome groups may be 
formed by devoting isolated beds to this family alone. They 
are mostly easy to increase by division of the stem and 
rhizome ; and should in all cases be planted well and singly, 
beginning with healthy young plants, so as to secure per- 
fectly developed single-stemmed specimens. 

List of Hardy Herbaceous and Annual Plants, ^c, of fine 
habit, worthy of employment in the flower garden or 
pleasure ground. 



Acantlius, several spe- 
cies. 

Asclepias syriaca. 

Statice latifolia. 

Morina longifolia. 

Polygonum cuspidatum. 

Rheum Emodi,and seve- 
ral other species. 

Euphorbia Cyparissias. 

Datisca cannabina. 

Veratrum album. 

Tritomas, in variety. 

Thalictrum foetidum. 

Crambe cordifolia. 

Althaea taurinensis. 

Geranium anemonsefo- 
lium. 

Melianthus major. 

Panicum, several species. 



Spiraea Aruncus. 

venusta. 
Astilbe rivularis. 

,, rubra. 
Eryngium, several spe- 
cies. 

Ferula, several species. 
Seseli, 

Chamaerops excelsa. 
Cucumis perennis. 
Hibiscus roseus. 
Rhus glabra laciniata. 
Artemisia annua. 
Phytolacca decandra. 
Centaurea babylonica. 
Lobelia Tupa. 
Peucedanum ruthenicum 
Hei-acleum, several spe- 
cies. 



Dipsacus laciniatus. 
Allre lia cernua. 
Cynara horrid a. 

„ Scolymus. 
Carlina acanthifolia. 
Telekia cordifolia. 
Echinops exaltatus, 

ruthenicus. 
Helianthus argyrophyl- 
lus. 

,, orgyalis, and 
others. 
Gunnera scabra. 
Funkia subcordata. 

,, japonica. 
Tritoma, in varieties. 
Arando Donax. 

,, conspicua. 
Gynerium argenteum. 



238 HARDY PLANTS FOR THE SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 



Elymus arenarius. 
Bambusa, several species. 
Arundinaria falcata. 
Yucca, several species. 
Verbascum vernale. 
Aralia spiiiosa. 



Aralia japonica. 

„ edulis. 
Macleaya cordata. 
Panicum bulbosum. 

„ virgatum. 
Kochia scoparia. 



Datura ceratocaula. 
Silybum eburneum. 

„ marianum. 
Onopordon Acanthium. 
,, arabicum. 



List of Hardy Plants of fine habit, that may be raised 
from Seed. 



Among suitable 
seed^ the following 

Acanthus latifolius. 
„ mollis, 
spinosus. 
Artemisia annua. 
Astilbe rivularis. 
Campanula pyramidalis. 
Cannabis gigantea. 
Carlina acantbifolia. 
Datura ceratocaula. 
Echinops, several species. 
Eryngium bromeliEefo- 
lium. 

campestre. 
„ coelestinum. 



liardy plants tliat 
are offered in recent 

Eryngium giganteum. 
Ferula communis. 

„ tingitana. 
Geranium auemon£efo- 

lium. 
Gunnera scabra. 
Gynerium argenteum. 
Helianthus argyrophyl- 

lus. 

„ orgyalis. 
Heracleum eminens. 

„ giganteum. 
platytsenium. 
Kochia scoparia. 



may be raised from 
seed catalogues : — 

Lobelia Tupa. 
Morina longifolia. 
Onopordon arabicum. 

„ tauricum. 
Centaurea babylonica. 
Panicum, several species. 
Phytolacca decandra. 
Salvia argentea. 
Silybum marianum. 

„ eburneum. 
Statice latifolia. 
Tritomas, in variety. 
Yucca, several species. 



239 



CHAPTER XII. ! 

■i 

VERSAILLES. j 

. 1 

This being one of tlie most celebrated gardens in tbe world | 

it behoves us to examine it somewhat in detail — were we, bow- j 

ever, to treat of it in proportion to its real merits as a garden, ] 

a very small amount of space would suffice. Let us pass ■ 

tbrougb tbe vast stone courtyard and take up our position i 

near tbe garden front of tbe palace. Standing near tbe walls, 1 

looking over tbe gardens, and following tbe vista of tbe j 

canal into tbe low country beyond, tbe eye first rests on a j 

vast spread of gravel, some marble margins of great water ; 

basins, sundry protuberances from tbe level of tbe water, 

and away in tbe distance an effect like tbat afforded by a 

suburban canal in a bigbly practical and unlovely country. | 

A few Lombardy Poplars belp tbis remote vista, but tbe < 

eff'ect of tbe wbole is from tbis point of view lamentable. 

To tbe rigbt of tbe palace tbere is a ratber pleasing garden, i 

witb big box-edgings, clipped conical Yews and otber trees, 1 

and numerous statues well sbown against dense woods of | 

Horse- cbestnut trees. To tbe left tbere is one of tbose 

spreads of gravel, grass, a few stumpy clipped Yews, &c., 

generally known as geometrical gardens, tbe Horse-cbestnut 

groves starting up ratber abruptly and relieving tbe wbole ! 

so as to render it tolerable. Advancing from tbe palace, tbe j 

lower terrace and its surroundings come into view, and tbe 

eff'ect improves. Tbe faces of tbe terrace walls are bedged ' 

witb green ; tbe flower borders are somewbat after tbe i 

fasbion of tbose at tbe Tuileries, and surrounded by a line i 

of well-grown Orange trees. Above tbe terrace walls Yew i 

trees are planted and clipped very regularly ; in tbe centre 

tbere is a fine and costly fountain, and tbe dense gi^oves of 

trees near at band again save tbe scene from bald formality, } 



4 



240 



VERSAILLES. 



not to say liideousness. Versailles is a vast garden, much 
of its interest being hidden behind these kindly groves of 
trees^ bnt we have about here the broadest effects of this 
far-famed place^ and may judge in how far they are worthy 
of the praise bestowed on them and of oui' admiration or 
imitation. 

Versailles is held np by the French and others as the 
queen of geometrical gardens^ and however this position 
may be dissented from^ it cannot be denied that it is a vast 
illustration of the fonnal school of gardening. 

There are in books many dissertations on the several 
styles of laying out gardens ; indeed some have taken us 
to China and Japan^ and others gone into Mexico for illus- 
tration; but when all is read and examined, what is the 
result to anybody who looks from words to things ? That 
there ai'e really two styles : one straitlaced^ mechanical^ 
fond of walls or bricks^ or it may be gravel j fond also of 
such geometry as the designer of wall papers excels in^ often 
indeed of a much poorer and less graceful kind than that ; 
fond too of squirting water in an immoderate degree^ with 
trees in tubs as an accompaniment^ and perhaps griffins and 
endless plaster and stone work. The other^ with true 
humility and right desire^ though often awkwardly and blun- 
deringly_, accepting nature as a guide^ and endeavoui^ing 
to multiply; so far as convenience and poor man-power will 
permit; her most charming features. 

Mr. Ruskin tells us that we are forced^ for the sake of 
accumulating our power and knowledge^ to live in cities : 
but such advantage as we have in association with each 
other is in gi'eat pai't counterbalanced by our loss of fellow- 
ship with nature. We cannot all have om' gardens now, 
nor our pleasant fields to meditate in at eventide. Then 
the function of om- architecture is^ as far as may be^ to 
replace these ; to tell us about natui'e j to possess us with 
memories of her quietness ; to be solemn and full of ten- 
derness^ like her^ and rich in portraitures of her; full of 
delicate imagery of the flowers we can no more gather^ and 
of the living creatures now far away from us in their own 
sohtude/-' 



VERSAILLES. 



241 



Wliat_, then^ are we to think of those who cany the dead 
lines and changeless triumphs of the building and the studio 
into the garden^ which_, above any other artificial creation^ 
should give us the sweetest and most wholesome " fellow- 
ship with nature^^ ? 

Simply that it is presumption and bad taste^ founded 
upon ignorance of what a true garden ought to be_, and of 
knowledge that the deadliest thing you can do with it is to 
introduce any feature which,, unlike the materials of our world- 
designer^ never changes. Away^ then^ with the wretched 
affectation of pretending to enjoy — away with the ignorance 
which asserts or blindly believes that there is some mys- 
terious and occult beauty in^ or necessity for^ such gardens 
as this ! 

It is perfectly true that there are some positions where 
an intrusion of architecture and embankments into the 
garden is justifiable — nay^ even now and then necessary ; 
but the misfortune is that they are often said to be so when 
such is not the case. It would be a waste of space to quote 
the nonsense that is printed and urged about things being 
^^in keeping/^ — the necessity of making an architectural 
garden associate with some particular style of buildings and so 
on. The best terrace gardens in continental countries are 
those built where the nature of the ground most calls for 
them and usually in positions where the ground is steep and 
rugged ; and it is in positions most like these that they 
best succeed^ and are most wanted in this country. Why^ 
then^ talk of " congruity " in the matter^ when it is con- 
sidered right to place the most geometrical kind of garden 
in the spots where the ground is most picturesque and ir- 
regular ? There is no code of taste resting on any real 
foundation which proves that garden or park should have 
any extensive stonework or geometrical arrangement. Many 
instances could be given to prove that the natural or nearly 
natural disposition of the ground is far preferable to the great 
majority of expensive mathematical gardens. 

Among other not often urged objections to great expen- 
diture on architectural embellishments^ costly fountains^ 
and statuesj instead of on the development of the real life and 

R 



242 



VERSAILLES. 



interest of a garden^ is the fact that outdoor artistic embel- 
lishment^ good or bad, is by no means so appropriate in 
these cool and gusty climes as in warmer countries. Where 
people can live out of doors the greater portion of the year, 
and where the winter is merely a pleasant dry kind of 
atmospheric tonic ; where the native can dine for more than 
half the year in a bower of vines, and breathe the spices of 
Orange trees and Magnolias — in the south of France, Spain, 
and Italy, and all along the shores of the Mediterranean — 
it is more desirable to have the nude form in marble in the 
open air, independently of the fact that the lichens and 
moss do not so soon begin to embellish the carving, or 
grass to grow out of its interstices, in countries near the 
sun. Leave art indoors — where, unfortunately, we must 
content ourselves for the most part — use as few wall- 
paper patterns and as little stonework as possible in our 
gardens, and arrange them so that when our sunny 
season does come they may be full of life and change, 
and that all our efforts therein may tend to their improve- 
ment in the right direction. 

In discussing this phase of gardening we have a capital 
example in the case of the Crystal Palace, in the region of 
the great fountain basins, where a more horrid impression 
is received than in any part of Versailles, though the upper 
terrace at the Palace illustrates the best features of the 
system, and shows as well as anything I know of in how 
far it may be safely adopted near a great building. But 
both at the Palace and Versailles the vast expense for a 
poor theatrical effect is not the most regretful of present 
features ; that, perhaps — not to look deeply into the 
blemishes of such positions — is the dirty, wide, change- 
less water basins, with their squirting pipes and perhaps 
crumbling margins ; for the purse that creates such de- 
lights frequently fails, if it does not get tired of expendi- 
ture that never produces the changeful beauty for which 
the heart of man yearns. To me there is nothing more 
appalling than the walls, fountain basins, clipped trees, and 
long canals, &c., of such a place as Versailles, not only be- 
cause they utterly fail to satisfy in themselves, but inasmuch 



VERSAILLES. 



243 



as they are ever accompanied by a day-gbost of wasted 
effort — of ricbes worse tban lost. 

In connexion witb tbe Crystal Palace one tbinks of 
ruined sbarebolders ; and witb Versailles_, of tbe enormous 
sums TTTung from an oppressed people, and put to sucb a 
miserable use, tbat one can scarcely regret a wild blood- 
dance of revolution came and put an end to it all. And 
tbis was tbe kind of good effected witb tbe money so bardly 
wrung from starving millions ! It was merely burying 
wealtb — indeed_, it migbt bave been better to bave buried 
it, for many would prefer tbe naked eartb to tbese gyra- 
tions, wbicb must be kept in repair at great cost or tbey 
become intolerable even to tbeir builders and designers. 

Wben a private individual indulges in expensive fancies, 
lie bas small influence to injure any one but bimself ; but 
wben tbe place is a public one, and set up as an example 
of all tbat is admirable, tben, in addition to tbe first wasteful 
expenditure, we bave an object burtful to tbe public taste, 
and sowing tbe seed of its ugliness all over tbe country. 

It may be said tbat our taste in England is sufficiently 
assured against tbis ; but it is not so. I bave known tbose 
whose lawns were or migbt readily be made tbe most 
beautiful of gardens, ruin them, and for tbe mere sake of 
having a terraced garden. There is a modern castle in 
Scotland where tbe embankments are piled one above 
another till the thing looks as if tbe Chinese who carve the 
ivory balls bad been invited to make a corresponding ar- 
rangement in tbe fortification style. "Were it a matter of 
trifling cost, or which could be easily abolished or even 
avoided, it would not be worthy our attention ; but being 
so expensive that it may curtail for years the legitimate 
outlay for a garden, and prevent expenditure in live interest 
rather than in slow crumbling monotony, too much cannot 
be urged against it. The style was in doubtful taste in 
climates and positions more suited to it tban those of 
northern France and England ; but he who would now 
adopt it in an age when civilization has set its formal brand 
upon everything, and in the presence of the inexhaustible 
and magnificent collections of trees and plants which we 

R 2 



244 



VERSAILLES. 



now possess^ is an enemy to every true interest of the 
garden. 

We will next visit a few of the more interesting of sncL. 
features as are hidden from the general scene^ firsts how- 
ever^ glancing at the Tapis Yert — the grassy avenue which 
leads from the parterre to the Bassin d''Apoilon and the 
Grand Canal. From it the effect is much better than from 
the terrace above^ and it^ like many parts of the place^ is 
bordered or hedged with numbers of costly statues and 
vases. They seem as profuse as if the gold and marble had 
been dug up on the spot^ and as if this had been the reason 
why a great garden had been made in such a very bad 
position. 

The Orangery here^ in a sunk garden to the south of 
the Palace and the Parterre du Midi^ is probably the most 
remarkable known. It is most permanently and massively 
built in the face of a terrace^ and is more than thirteen 
hundred feet long by ' thirty- six wide. It is in fact an 
immense archway^ lighted at one side. The height from 
the balustrade of the terrace above to the walk in front of the 
Orangery is about forty-six feet^ and once on the occasion of 
a night fete a poor English visitor^ thinking this balustrade 
was merely a dividing line between two parterres^ jumped 
over^ and was found nearly killed below. The collection of 
Orange trees here is immense ; but as we have ah'eady dis- 
cussed this unhappy phase of horticulture in the chapter on 
the Tuileries gardens_, little need be said here. One of the 
trees^ however^ is deserving of especial remark^ and^ indeed, 
I hoped to give an exact portrait of it^, and should have 
done so were it not for an unpunctual photographer. This 
tree was produced from seeds sown in 1421, by Leonora of 
Castille, wife of Charles III., King of Navarre, and after 
enduring between 400 and 500 years, is still healthy and 
verdani: in its leafage, though a little tottering, and requiring 
to be carefully propped up. That it should have lived so 
long under the circumstances is indeed rery remarkable, 
for of coui'se a tree put into a half-lighted building in 
winter, and placed in the open air in summer, and at all 
times liable to vicissitudes at the roots, runs great danger 



PLATE XXXVII. 




LA TOILETTE D'APOLLON. 



VERSAILLES. 



245 



compared to one in the open air. Tlie large collection of 
Orange-trees is usually placed in the open air about the 
15th of May^ and under cover not later than the 15th of 
October^, so that the trees only enjoy the free air and sun for 
five months out of the twelve. In addition to the Orange- 
trees^ a few other exotics were kept in this structure in 
winter^ and submitted to the same treatment as the Orange- 
trees at all other seasons. These are Justicia Adhatoda, 
Olea angustifolia, Jasminum azoricum,, and Edwardsia 
grandiflora. They seemed to do remarkably well under the 
treatment usually given to Orange-trees on the Continent, 
and the Justicia and Jasminum, and perhaps the others, are 
in my opinion more worthy of being thus grown than the 
Orange, inasmuch as they display their fine flowers in the 
open air in summer, and they are less costly than when 
grown in stoves or conservatories. The specimens of the 
Madeira Jasmine are the finest I ever saw ; the rich green 
shoots drooping gracefully and bearing abundance of flowers. 
The Justicia and others were said to flower abundantly in 
their seasons. This, considered in connexion with the 
success which attends the culture of the Oleander and the 
sweet-scented Pittosporum under like circumstances, and 
even when preserved in cellars during the winter, would 
seem to point to the desirability of adopting the system, or 
a modification of it. It has not spread among us, but it cer- 
tainly is as practicable in England as in many parts of the 
Continent where it is seen. With us the nearest thing to it 
is the practice of putting handsome evergreens in tubs for 
placing in terrace gardens, &c. But surely it is scarcely 
worth while doing this with things that we see in every 
shrubbery ! If we do go to the expense of growing plants 
thus, let us select those that will not bear the open air of 
our winters, but which succeed well out of doors in summer. 

It is needless to describe the numberless gardens, foun- 
tains, &c., of Versailles, and indeed impossible, unless one 
could devote a book to the subject. Very few of the spots 
indicated on the plan will please the visitor more than the 
garden or Bosquet du Eoi, near the Orangery ; and simply 
because the artificialness, the stonework, and want of 



246 



VERSAILLES. 



repose wliicli are characteristics of the greater part of Ver- 
sailles^ are here absent. It is simply a sweep of gi'ass^ sur- 
rounded by handsome trees^, with a few flower beds and fine- 
leaved plants here and there. It is but one of a thousand 
types of scene which pure taste and a knowledge of hardy 
trees and plants may produce^ and yet it is sufficient to 
show the vain_, unsatisfactory^, and trumpery character of 
the various far more costly gardens in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood. All visitors should see it after surveying the 
general dreariness of the rest. 



Fig. 91. 




The Tapis Yert. 



To the south of the Tapis Vert^ and near the Jardin du 
Roi; the Colonnade is very well worth seeing^ and perhaps 
the happiest feature of the architectural gardening. The 
grove encloses a peristyle in marble about one hundred feet 
in diameter. It is composed of thirty-two columns of 
marble in diff'erent colours^ with the capitals in white 
marblC;, and all most richly ornamented. Under each arch 
is placed a vase-like basin in marble from which springs a 
jet d^eau^ and in the centre of the arena is a group in 
marble representing the Hape of Proserpine. The efi'ect of 



PLATE xxxvrri. 




THE COLONNADE AT VERSAILLES. 



VERSAILLES. 



247 



the wliole^ closely surrounded as it is by a dense grove^ is 
very fine. 

To the right of the chateau^ the most interesting spot, is 
the Bosquet des Bains d^Apollon. This is simply a large 
and picturesque surface of rock_, well-backed by trees and 
with a pillared grotto or recess about its centre, containing 
the group in white marble shown in the accompanying 
plate. To the right and left of this magnificent group, and 
also exposed on the rocky face, are two groups in marble, 
representing the horses of the sun watered by tritons. 
These three groups form the most imposing ensemble of 
sculpture at Versailles. When the waters play, a cascade 
tumbles from the rocks into the piece of water at their 
base. The banks in front of them are wildly clothed with 
trailing shrubs, the Polypody densely mantles the rocks; 
the vegetation around is tastefully arranged to suit the 
scene, which is on the whole the most striking and satis- 
factory in the gardens at Versailles. 

On the fountains and waterworks of Versailles skill and 
gold were lavished by their creators. The Bassin de Nep- 
tune is the most important. As the waters only play 
on special occasions, and as they cost about 10,000 francs 
every time they do play, one is justified in considering the 
basins in their usually dormant aspect. Nothing can look 
more wretched than any garden exhibiting large fountain 
basins. Early in the morning of the 24th cf September, 1868, 
I strolled round this fountain basin, endeavouring to dis- 
cover some beauty in it. Had it not been for the fruits 
falling abundantly from the Horse-chestnut groves close at 
hand and a poor woman gathering them for fuel, I should 
have imagined myself in a dead world. The formality of 
the surroundings, the mouldering, faded margins and inde- 
scribable emptiness and ugliness of the scene, seemed only 
worthy of some sphere of geometrical craters and pools. 

The figure showing this basin in fall play obviates any 
necessity of describing it. The upper margin of the basin has 
twenty-two large vases in lead, ornamented with bas-reliefs, 
while on the face of the wall are three immense groups in 
the same material — the central one representing Neptune and 



248 



VERSAILLES. 



Amphitrite seated in a vast shell surrounded by nymphs^ 
tritons^ and sea monsters. The western group represents 
Ocean resting upon a sea unicorn — that to the east Proteus, 
"while at the angles are two colossal dragons bearing Cupids. 
This fountain is the last to play of all those at Versailles, 
the grand final scene of the day, usually beginning about 
five o''clock, when all the others have ceased. The effect is 
very good of its kind, and attracts great crowds of people. 



Fig. 92. 




One of the statues on the upper terrace. 
Yase from the basin of Neptune. Yase Borghese. 



It is hopeless to attempt an enumeration of the riches 
possessed by almost every part of the garden in statues 
and vases. The accompanying figure may serve to give an 
idea of their execution. 

The Bassin de Latone has five circular basins, rising one 
above the other in a pyramidal form, surmounted by a group 
representing Latona with Apollo and Diana, the goddess 
imploring the vengeance of Jupiter against the peasants of 



,1...... 



VERSAILLES. 



249 



Libya^ Mvho refused lier water. The peasants^ cliangedj or 
in the process of being changed^ into frogs_, tortoises^ and 
lizards, are placed on the different levels^ and shoot water 
upon Latona from every direction. The tablets are of red 
marble, the group white marble^ and the frogs, &c., in lead, 
and the effect of the whole is very striking when the waters 
play. 

There are many other fountains^ basins, &c., of minor 
importance which the visitor will be delighted to escape 
from into the garden of the Petit Trianon_, at the north 
end of the park. 

The Grand and the Petit Trianons are simply two villas 



Fig. 93. 




Temple de 1' Amour in tlie gardens of tlie Petit Trianon. 

at the extremity of the park, each with extensive gardens. 
Those of the first mentioned are among the most angular, 
ugly, and cheerless it has ever been my fortune to see — -those 
of the Petit Trianon by far the best gardens at or near Ver- 
sailles. To pass into them from these interminable gardens, 
where the " genius of Le Notre '''' has been so successful 
in stealing from nature every grace, is as refreshing 
as being suddenly transferred from some gigantic Cotton- 
opolis to a green and sunny Piedmontese valley. It was 
the favourite residence of Marie Antoinette, and the gar- 
dens were in great part laid out by her in what the French 
call the EnglisV^ or natural style. Most of the expense 



250 



VERSAILLES. 



has been devoted to the planting of choice kinds of hardy 
treeSj of which there are many fine specimens in the grounds, 
many planted before the Revolution^ and a great many newer 
species since. Quiet and refreshingly verdant glades, a tiny 
streamlet picturesquely meandering through them, a well 
designed piece of water, a little Swiss village, dairy, &c., 
erected by Marie Antoinette, constitute the chief charms of 
the place apart from its associations. But trees and grass, 
and shrubs and flowers, a streamlet and rocks, a lake and 



Fig. 94. 




Yiew in the garden of the Petit Trianon. 



a few picturesque buildings, how much you can do with 
them ! We travel far and wide to see natural combina- 
tions of a few of these, and find them lovely and diff'erent in 
every clime. Even so may we make our gardens vary, 
and infinitely more so, because we may combine the vege- 
table beauties of many climes, while in nature we only get 
a comparatively limited view of them in any one spot. 

No visitor to the Petit Trianon should omit to see the 
Jardin des Meurs in front of the house of M. Charpentier, 




I 



FONTAINEBLEAU. 



251 



cliief gardener of tlie Trianons. It is a garden in the best 
sense of tlie word^ not large^ but containing a rich variety 
of plants tastefully arranged. There are many handsome 
hardy trees_, groups of Arundo and Pampas dotted on the 
grassj the Tamarix used in like manner,, and very effective 
•with masses of Cannas^ Salvias^ New Zealand Flax^ and 
numerous other tender plants put out for the summer. 
These are usually very gracefully arranged^ the boxes con- 
taining the larger specimens carefully concealed by dwarfer 
subjects and plenty of verdant grass as well as brilliant 
flowers. 

In the immediate neighboui^hood of this garden are very 
extensive and well managed nurseries for the supply of the 
imperial gardens of Paris. To the professional horticulturist 
they will prove worthy of a visit. 

FontainebleaUj and the Gladiolus Grounds of M. Souchet. 

Fontainebleau is one of many places in Prance not likely 
to be remembered with much pleasure for their gardens. 

Fig. 95. 



Canal in tne gardens of Fontainebleau. 

The formality of the water and the avenues and the lines of 
fusty clipped Lime trees render it impossible for the eye to 
find in such a place any of the solace or charms of a true 
garden. The portion planted as an English garden '''' 
has indeed some peace about it^ but unhappily the strictest 



252 



rONTAINEBLEAU, AND THE 



formality governs every line of tlie vegetation on tlie garden 
front bf tlie palace. It is that type of garden wMcli lias 
not a cnrions corner in it nor a ray of novelty, and conse- 
quently to describe it in detail would be to waste space. The 
illustrations show it fully_, but with a touch of grace which 
it does not really possess, for an artist has too much feeling 
to draw it in all its angularity and baldness^ and weaves in 
over the grateful surface a little of the freedom and grace 
of nature. The only feature of any practical horticul- 
tural interest in the place is the famous Treille du Koi, an 



Fig. 96. 




View in the forest of Fontainebleau. 



enormous wall of vines, which, bordering the park, is said 
to annually produce SOOOlbs. or 90001bs. of grapes. It is 
planted with the Chasselas de Fontainebleau, and the wall 
is well managed, as indeed one would expect it to be, so 
near Thomery. 

Of the things to be seen at Fontainebleau, those best 
worth remembering are far away from the chateau and 
even from the garden. It is tedious work getting away 
from the interminable long straight roads that lead from 
the chateau in every direction ; but, once in the midst of 



GLADIOLUS GROUNDS OF M. SOUCHET. 253 

one of those wilds where huge rocks and indigenous trees 
are scattered in about equal profusion,, the visitor will 
hardly ask himself why Rosa Bonheur resides in the neigh- 
bourhood. 

But the most beautiful of those glorious wilds in the 
forest does not present a greater charm to the landscape 
artist or the lover of the picturesque than M. Souchet^s 
collection of Gladioli affords to the horticulturist. It 
is by far the finest collection in the world, and a remark- 
able example of high cultivation. M. Souchet is the Em- 
peror's gardener, and has been so for many years. He has 
been cultivating the Gladiolus for more than thirty years ; 
and it was cultivated also here by his father. This is the 
most noble of our autumnal flower garden ornaments, and 
one comparatively neglected by us. There is no flowering 
plant so well calculated to improve the aspect of the 
autumnal garden, of no matter what style. M. Souchet 
grows it in fields, surrounded by white stone walls. His 
ground was for the most part formerly occupied by market 
garden cultivators, and these usually surround their 
gardens by such walls. He altogether occupies, with the 
culture of his favourite, from eight to nine hectares of land, 
or say about twenty acres English. 

The first thing noticeable in this ground is that about 
half of the land is unoccupied for the current year. That 
bare portion is ploughed^ and manured, and cultivated 
throughout the summer as well as in winter, and thus he 
has fresh land in capital condition for his bulbs every year. 
Besides, the fact that the ground is bare for a year helps to 
counteract to some extent the particularly vicious insect 
enemies with which he has to contend, as, having no food on 
the ground for the summer, they are not attracted ; and when 
the ground is rolled between the ploughing and manuring 
the tracks of the courteliere are easily seen, and it may be 
readily destroyed. This idle ground is thoroughly tilled, 
ploughed^ or in some way disturbed six or seven times 
during the season, and he would like to do it a dozen 
times if time or labour would permit. The ground planted 
this year will of course be empty next_, and so on. Over 



254 



FONTAINEBLEAU, AND THE 



the whole of the extensive grounds planted with Gladioli 
you could not notice a decayed leaf, and all the plants were 
in the rudest healthy some of the varieties growing as much 
as six feet high. It was a fine sight at any time of the 
day to see the magnificent stretch of varied bloom ; but 
the days about the time of my last visit were very hot^ and 
one was obliged to get up very early in the morning to see 
it at its best. Although very showy at noon, yet the hot 
sun had caused the most open flowers to flag a little. But 
in the early mornings when the dew hung upon the bloom^ 
and every petal was braced with its freshness,, the flowers 
were magnificent. 

The insect enemies of M. Souchet would prove enough 
to deter and defeat most men. He makes ceaseless war 
against them^ and if they do succeed in destroying a bulb 



Fig. 97. 




Courteliere (Mole Cricket). 



now and then^ it generally forms the guide to their detection 
and destruction. If the courteliere or mole cricket were 
allowed his own way for a fortnight in these grounds^ I 
fear some of the great bulb houses would sufi'er from their 
want of Gladioli in autumn. "When this strong and well 
armed little fellow gets into a bed of choice Gladioli^ you 
cannot well dig him out as you could if he happened to be 
in an open spot. The way he is killed here is so interesting 
and effective that I must relate it. M. Souchet explained 
it to me j but so many receipts for exterminating vermin 
are not worth the trouble of trying the second time_, that 
probably I should not have noticed it had he not called a 
workman and given me an illustration on the spot. When 
the mole cricket goes about^ he leaves a little loose ridge^ 
like the animal after which he is named : and when his 



GLADIOLUS GROUNDS OF M. SOUCHET. 



255 



presence is detected in a closely planted bed of Gladiolus 
at Tontainebleau^ they generally press the ground quite 
smooth with the foot^ so that his track and halting-place 
may be more distinctly seen the next time he moves about. 
This had been done in the present instance in the case of 
a young bed of seedlings. We saw his tracks and a work- 
man^ who brought with him a jar of water and one of 
common oil, opened a little hole with his finger above the 
spot where the enemy lay. Then he filled it with water 
twice, and on the top of the water poured a little oil. The 
water gradually descended, and with it the oil, which, 
closing up the breathing pores of the mischievous little 
brute, caused it to begin to suffer from asphyxia, and in 
about twenty seconds we had the pleasure of seeing it put 
forth its horns from the water, go back a little when it saw 
us, but again come forth to die on the surface, hindered 
for ever from destroying valuable bulbs. Being very strong 
and well armed, a single mole cricket can do a deal of damage 
in a bed of Gladiolus, and therefore the moment the work- 
men of M. Souchet see a trace of the pest they take means 
to catch it as described, jars of water and oil being always 
kept at hand. 

The mole cricket is only one enemy — the ver blanc is 
worse. Of what a vile oj)ponent this is, 
some idea may be formed when I relate the 
precautions M. Souchet is obliged to take 
against it, even for the sake of enjoying a 
few Rhododendrons. He has built a pri- 
vate house near his Gladiolus grounds, and 
wishing to have a couple of beds of these 
shrubs within view of the windows, he has 
had to build strong cemented walls deep ^ 
into the earth around each bed, and fill \l^e "cockchafer) 
in the bottom with a deep bed of fine 
sand, so as to guard against the entrance of this dreaded 
worm into the bed. But it is among his bulbs that most is 
to be feared. He employs a great number of people to gather 
the parent insect at the egg-depositing season, has the larvee 
picked up after the plough, and one way or another avoids 




256 



rOJ^TAINEBLEAU, AND THE 



their ravages^ thougli at great cost of time and money. 
The ver blanc is simply the larva of the cockchafer. 

The damage done by these enemies to horticulture and 
agriculture in France is almost incredible. They are pro- 
ductive of far greater injuries than any that we are visited 
with through insects ; and though their ravages are not so 
noticeable in this country^ it is very likely that they occa- 
sionally do a good deal of damage perhaps without being 
suspected. Where they happen to be plentiful in or near 
gardens they are sure to be at mischievous work^ and should 
be watched accordingly. Gardens and fields and whole 
districts are sometimes ruined by the ver blanc in France ; 
and there are even places where it is impossible to cultivate 
any kind of vegetable in consequence of the ravages of the 
mole cricket. 

The soil is a very sandy^ not a fluffy one^ observe, but 
one with some holding power_, and yet when you get a dry 
bit of a clod of it_, and crumble it fine on a silk glove, you 
find that most of it sinks through to the palm of your 
hand, in the form of nearly impalpable sand. It is well 
manured, and pretty rich and deep, from having been long- 
used as kitchen-garden ground. Horse manure is preferred, 
and that as well rotted as possible. The time of planting 
is, perhaps, one of the most important things to be acquainted 
with, and they do it here from April till the early part of 
June. The late planting is not often resorted to however. 
They prefer the beginning of May for the general and the 
safest planting. The medium-sized bulbs give the best 
flowers as a rule, the biggest often breaking into several 
stems instead of giving one good one. To plant at various 
times of course will lead to a succession of bloom. The 
seedlings flower in their third year. The time of taking up 
is October, and, from the great quantity to be stored, this 
process sometimes goes on to the beginning of November. 
The plants are mostly in beds, about four feet wide, placed 
in rows across the bed, from fifteen to eighteen inches apart. 
The beds are all covered with short litter to keejD the soil 
moist. In very hot weather they are well watered. Each 
kind is numbered, the scraps of lead on which the numbers 



GLADIOLUS GEOUNDS OF M. SOUCHET. 



257 



are stamped being wrapped round bits of Vine prunings, 
stuck in the earth. The beds are also carefully examined 
during the blooming season, so as to destroy all those not 
true to name, or what are termed " rogues/'' Such are the 
chief points as to cultivation — next for a selection of the 
varieties. 

There are altogether in cultivation here between 250 and 
300 varieties. Of these, we first selected the undermentioned 
as best, and then went over them again, marking the very 
best of all. This second or choicest selection is indicated 
by an asterisk to all those so chosen : — 



Achille. 
Ana'is. 

Belle Gabrielle. 

Charles Dickens. 

Cherubini. 
*Dr. Lindlej. 
*Duc de Malakoff. 

El Dorado. 

Fulton. 

Galilee. 
*Imperatrice Eugenie. 
* James Veitch. 
*Jolin Waterer. 

Lady Franklin. 

Laquintinie. 
*Le Poussin. 

La Titiens. 

Linne. 



*Lord Byron. 
*Madame Furtado. 

Madame Les^ble. 

Madame de Sevigne. 
*Madame Vilmorin. 

Marecbal Vaillant. 
*Marie Dumortier. 

Mazeppa. 

Met^ore. 
*Meyerbeer. 
*Milton. 

*M. Ad. Brongniart. 
* Napoleon III. 

Newton. 

Ophir. 

Oracle. 
*Penelope. 



Prince of Wales. 

Princess of Wales. 
*Princesse Clothilde. 
* Princess Mary of Cam- 
bridge. 
*Queen Victoria. 

Eeverend Mr. Berkeley. 

Eoi Leopold. 

Eubens. 
*Sbakspeare. 

Sir William Hooker. 

Stephenson. 

Stuart Low. 

Thomas Moore. 
*Sir Joseph Paxton. 

Vesta. 

*Sir Walter Scott. 



It is evident there is an ample field from which to select, 
and a sufficient variety to please the most fastidious. M. 
Souchet grows exclusively for wholesale houses, and a 
large proportion of the bulbs of these attractive autumnal 
flowers, which are met with in the stores of the Paris and 
London nurserymen or seedsmen, are derived from the 
grounds of this most successful of cultivators. I cannot 
close this without acknowledging the great kindness of M. 
and Madame Souchet, both as amiable and excellent in 
private life as M. Souchet is distinguished in horticulture ; 
and some of the pleasantest of the many agreeable visits I 
have made to great gardens were those paid to M. and Madame 
Souchet and the forest and gardens of Tontainebleau. 

In France the Gladiolus is cultivated much more abun- 
dantly than with us — a state of things which should not 



258 GLADIOLUS GROUNDS OF M. SOUCHET. 



long continue^ as nothing can be more wortliy of general 
cultivation,, or more calculated to improve the general aspect 
of our ornamental gardens. Perhaps one of the best re- 
commendations of this fine bulb is that its flowers continue 
to open long after the spike is cut^ and bloom in a vase of 
water as freely as in the open garden. I have never seen 
anything more beautiful or effective than large Sevres vases 
filled with the spikes of the finer kinds in M. Souchet^s 
house. Many of his varieties grow five feet or more higli ; 
when cut; a yard or more of the spike is preserved, no 
other arrangement being needed except to insert their bases 
in the mouth of the vase, and allow their heads to spread 
widely forth, placing a few branches of evergreens, or any 
verdure at band, among the stems, just to give them a little 
relief. There is no one kind of flower that could make 
such a noble combination, and the efi'ect within the cool, 
tbick-walled French house, on hot days, was of the highest 
character. It may safely be said that the Gladiolus is the 
finest of all our flowers for indoor decoration in autumn, its 
tall and noble spike entirely preventing it from being used 
to produce the dumpling-like effects given by Dahlias and 
other popular flowers ; and in the open air its uses are even 
more valuable. 

It should be premised, however, that in all cases either a 
naturally sandy, rich, and deep light soil should be given 
to it, or one made so artificially. There are many stiff and 
sticky soils on which it would be much better to avoid its 
culture, and turn one^s attention to things more tolerant of 
the soil. But the question of soil once settled, let us take 
the case of a bed of choice Eoses in some position near the 
house. Most probably this bed will present a somewhat 
disappointing aspect after the Roses are past their best ; and 
even if they continue to fiower well, the peeping forth of 
some splendid spikes of Gladioli here and there will surely 
not detract from their beauty. To secure this, all we have 
to do is to insert some bulbs of the various kinds of Gladioli 
in the spaces between the Hoses in the early part of May, or 
thereabouts, planting them singly here and there, and at about 
three or four inches deep, and taking up the roots in the 



THE GARDENS OF ST. CLOUD. 



259 



montli of October. Is it necessary to suggest a score of 
other analogous uses ? Need it be said bow tastefully tbey 
may be introduced just within the edge of the low choice 
plantation J or in beds of valuable shrubs on the lawn? Groups 
of them in the centre of flower-beds would be splendid ; and 
planted thinly here and there among beds of low-growing 
subjects — say Saponaria^ Mignonette^ &c., they would rise 
above these^ and their effect above the surfacing flower would 
prove very fine indeed. They may be placed in groups or 
rings around Standard Eoses ; they will make the most 
valuable groups in the mixed border; and finally^ we may 
make grand beds of them by themselves^ or associated with 
Lilies or Irises. 

St. Cloud, popular as it is_, is perhaps one of the most 
uninteresting gardens known. It is_, however^ worth seeing, 
if only to get an idea of how much " the genius of a Le 
Notre^'' may do to spoil a place naturally beautiful. The 
canals,, the lines of ugly clipped trees, and every base feature 
of geometrical gardening are there, but nothing worth 
remembering as an example. The situation is one of the 
most beautiful that gardening man could desire, and would 
be ravishing if tastefully and simply laid 
out in the natural style. The lamentable 
eflPect of clipping the trees is well shown 
in the plate ; it is very evident the poor 
trees do not like it. It would be difficult 
to find a more striking example of labour 
worse than thrown away than that be- 
stowed on clipping trees in many French 
gardens. Not only are the trees them- 
selves robbed of all individual beaaty or 
character, but many noble places are 
spoiled by their presence. Frequently the 
trees become hideous from disease conse- 
quent upon mutilation ; and what they are 
in perfection may be seen by the accompany- 
ing model tree figured by a professor in one A French ideal of 
of the best French books on arboriculture. tree-beauty. 

Any real necessity for this clipping does not exist. 




260 



MEUDON. 



When trees are planted in close lines to form a shady 
avenue, their natural tendency is to form a beautiful 
and formal, though picturesque arch, so that clipping them 
to obtain this is a fatile barbarism. Do we want to prevent 
them spreading forth and filling the streets with their great 
wide heads ? If so we may select trees almost pillar-like in 
their habit, as the Lombardy Poplar, the fastigiate Acacia, 
and various trees of similar aspect. Do we require them 
flat-headed and low, so that while shading the hot street 



Fig. 100. 




Meudon. 



they may not darken all the windows ? If so we haA^e the 
Paulownia, of great shading power, and fine as a street tree 
on dry soil, without a disposition to mount much higher 
than the headed-down Limes we notice in so many London 
street gardens. 

Meudon is much less known and visited by English 
people than St. Cloud or Versailles, though it could hardly 
fail to please as much as the former. For a charming view 
of Paris and the intervening country it is superior to St. 
Cloud, and equal to any spot near Paris. This view may 



MEUDON. 



261 



be best enjoyed from the terrace, wbicb is tastefully planted 
and not disfigured with Orange trees in tubs, as many con- 
tinental gardens are. As to its gardening proper, the most 
novel feature is an ornamental orchard — a good idea. This 
is simply formed by planting shrubberies, groups, and 
single specimens of well trained fruit trees in an undulating 
piece of pleasure ground instead of the ordinary subjects 
generally used. The plan is well worthy of adoptioD, nearly 
all of our best fruit trees being highly valuable as orna- 
ments alone. 



262 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE PLANT DECORATION OF APARTMENTS REFORM IN THE 

CONSERVATORY PALMS THE IVY AND ITS USES IN PARISIAN 

GARDENS. 

The 'plant decoration of apartments. 

The graceful custom of growing plants in living rooms is 
very much more prevalent on the Continent than with us. 
It is true that we often see a display of flowering plants in 
roomS; though we very rarely rise to the use of subjects 
distinguished by beauty of form^ or select those that are 
peculiarly adapted for culture indoors. But the day is ap- 
proaching when the value of graceful plants as house orna- 
ments will be very fully recognised ; and that the substitution 
of life and changeful interest for much that_, however costly 
or well executed^ is without these qualities^ will prove a gain 
few will doubt. Apart altogether from their effect as orna- 
ments^ what can more agreeably introduce us to the study 
of natural history ? The influence of the graceful form of 
a young Palm in the hall^ the fascinating verdure of Ferns 
and fine-leaved plants from many countries in the drawing- 
room, and flowers, from the Orchids of the uplands of 
Mexico to the tiny bulbs of Europe, in your Lilliputian 
room- conservatory, is surely more eloquent in that direction 
than any book teachings. You cannot deny, as Kingsley 
says, that your daughters find an enjoyment in it, and are 
more active, more cheerful, more self-forgetful over it, than 
they would have been over novels and gossip, crochet and 
Berlin wool. At least you will confess that the abomination 
of ^ fancy work^ — that standing cloak for dreamy idleness 
(not to mention the injury it does to poor starving needle- 
women) — has all but vanished from your drawing-room 



THE PLANT DECORATION OE APARTMENTS. 263 



since tlie ^ Lady Ferns'' and ''Venus^s Hair'' appeared; and 
that you could not help youi^self looking now and then at 
the said ^ Venus''s Hair/ and agreeing that nature^s real 
beauties were somewhat superior to the ghastly woollen 
caricatures which they have superseded.^'' Eerns_, to be sure^ 
have been a great help and a great attraction; but they 
are by no means so readily grown in rooms as some things 
to be presently mentioned; nor are they supreme as regards 
verdure and elegance. By a combination of all the 
plants suitable for 
this purpose^ we 
may not only find 
very agreeable in- 
door employment^ 
but create the 
highest kind of or- 
nament and inte- 
rest in the house 
at all seasons. 

Not only are we^ 
deficient as regards 
the better kinds of 
plant ornament in 
houses^ but also 
in large gardens — 
with far greater 
means of readily 
developing it than 
occur on the Con- 
tinent. Merely displaying a few popular or showy sub- 
jects is not plant decoration in any high sense ! Rooms 
are often overcrowded with ornaments^ many of them 
exact representations of natural objects ; but in the case of 
the plants we may^ without inconvenience,, enjoy and pre- 
serve the living natural objects themselves. Those we em- 
ploy for this purpose now are mostly of a fleeting character^ 
and such as cannot be preserved in health for any length of 
time in living rooms. Eut if in addition to the best of 
these we select handsome-leaved plants of a leathery tex- 




Maranta fasciata. 



264 THE PLANT DECORATION OV APARTMENTS. 



ture^ accustomed to withstand the fierce heats of hot 
countries, we shall find that the dry and dusty air of a 
living room is not at all injurious to them, and that it is 
quite easy to keep them in health for months and even for 
years in the same apartments. 



Fig. 102. 




Dracaena terminalis. 



They would speak to us of many distant lands; interest 
us by their growth under our care ; teach us the wonderful 
variety and riches of the vegetable kingdom, and prove them- 
selves quiet, unobtrusive friends. The variety of form and 
grace of outline which many of these plants possess, may to 
some extent be judged of by the illustrations scattered through 



THE PLANT DECORATION OF APARTMENTS. 265 



this chapter. INIany of them are exotics that in this country 
are rarely seen out of stoves^, while about Paris they are sold in 
abundance for the decoration of apartments. The demand 
for use in private houses gives rise to a large and special 
branch of trade in many of the nurseries^ and I know one 
Versailles cultivator who annually raises and sells 5000 or 6000 



Fig. 103. 




Gjmnostachyum VerscliafFelti. 



plants of the bright-leaved Dracaena terminalis (Fig. 102) 
alonCj and by far the greater part for room decoration. 

As compared with the plant decorations of one of the balls 
at the Hotel de Villc;, anything seen in the British Isles is 
poor indeed ; while the way plants are arranged at the 
Linnean and Royal Societies and other important places^ on 



266 THE PLANT DECORATION OE APARTMENTS. 



special occasions, is almost sufficient to prevent people tole- 
rating tliem indoors at all^ and yet tlie plants are mncli 
better grown in England tlian they are in France. Tlie dif- 
ference is cansed by exceedingly tasteful and frequently pe- 
culiar arrangement^ and by employing effective and graceful 
kinds. "What the Parisians do as regards arrangement may 
perhaps be best gleaned if^ before selecting the kinds most 

Fig. 104. 




Dieffenbachia segiiina maculata. 



deserving of indoor culture, I describe the decorations for 
one of the balls at the Hotel de Ville. 

Entering the Salle St. Jean_, the eye was immediately 
attracted by a luxuriant mass of vegetation at one end; 
while on the right and immediately round a mirrored recess 
was a very tasteful and telling display made as follows : — In 
front of the large and high mirror stretched a bank of moss^ 



THE PLANT DECORATION OE APARTMENTS. 267 

common moss ■and8rneatli_, and the surface nicely formed of 
fresh green Lycopodium denticnlatum, tlie -^liole being 
dotted over with the varionsly-tinted Chinese Primulas — a 
bank of these plants_, in fact^ high enough in its back parts 
to be reflected in the mirror with the taller plants which 
suiTOunded it^ gradually falling to the floor, and merging 
into the groups of larger plants on either side of the bank, 
the whole being enclosed by a low gilt wooden trellis-work 
margin. The groups at each side contrasted most beautifully 
with this. Green 
predominated, but 
there was a suffi- 
ciency of flower, 
while beauty of 
form was fully 
developed. In the 
centre and back 
parts of these 
groups were tall 
specimens of the 
common Sugar- 
cane (Saccharum 
officinarum) which 
held their long 
and boldly arching 
leaves well over 
the group. These 
were supported 
by Palms, which 
threw their graceful lines over the specimen Camellias, which 
were, in their turn, graced here and there by the presence of 
a Dracaena or dwarf Palm ; and so down to the front edge, 
where Cinerarias, forced bulbs. Primulas, and Ferns, finished 
off the groups, all very closely placed, so that neither the 
lower part of the stems, nor a particle of any of the pots, 
could be seen. Any interstices that happened to remain 
between the bases of the plants were compactly filled with 
fresh green moss, which was also pressed against the little 
gilt trellis-work which enclosed the whole, so that from the 



Fig. 105. 




Alocasia metallica. 



268 THE PLANT DECORATION OF APARTMENTS. 



uppermost point of the Cane leaves to the floor nothing was 
seen but fresh green foliage and graceful forms, enshrouding 
the ordinary flowers of our greenhouses^ that are infinitely 
more attractive when thus set in the verdure of which 
nature is so profuse^ and which is always so abundant where 
her charms of vegetation are at their highest. 

A scene such as this explains the prevalence of these 
graceful and noble-leaved plants in Paris gardens and in 



Fig. 106. 




iEclimea fiilgens. 



Parisian flower-shops and windows ; for you may frequently 
see elegant little Dracaenas ornamenting windows there, and 
as they look as well at Christmas as at midsummer_, I need 
hardly suggest how highly suited they are for purposes of 
this kind. The number of Dracsenas cultivated in and 
around Paris is something enormous, and among the newer 
species of these — not alluding to the coloured-leaved kinds 
— are some that combine grace with dignity as no other 



THE PLANT DECORATION OF APAUTMKNTS. 269 

plants combine them. They are useful for the centres of 
noble groups of plants in their larger forms, while the smaller 
species may be advantageously associated with the Maiden- 
hair Fern and the Cinerarias of the conservatory bench. 
They are of the greatest utility in these decorations, and 
are largely used in all parts. So are most kinds of fine- 
leaved plants, from Phormium to Ficus. Young Palms are 
also cultivated to an enormous extent about Paris ; and so is 
every green and gracefully-leaved plant, from the Cycads to 
the common trailing 
Ivy, — used a good 
deal to make living 
screens of. With 
such plants they have 
but little trouble to 
find materials for this 
kind of embellish- 
ment. 

The wide staircase 
ascending from the 
entrance hall had also 
a charming array of 
plants so placed that 
the visitors seemed to 
pass through a sort of 
floral grove — fine- 
leaved plants arching 
over, but not rising- 
very high, and having 
a profusion of flowering things among and beneath them. 
As the bank of Primulas and the groups of tall plants were 
placed opposite this staircase, and reflected in the great mirror 
behind, the effect when descending the staircase was fasci- 
nating indeed. A still finer effect was produced in a room 
near the great dancing saloon, and through whicli the 
guests passed to the magnificent ball-room. Against each 
pillar in this saloon was placed a tall palm with high and 
arching leaves like those of Seaforthia elegans, and others 
with longer leaves and pendulous leaflets. These meeting, 



Fig. 107. 




Caladium argyrites. 



270 THE PLANT DECORATION OF APARTMENTS. 



or almost meeting across^ produced a very gracefal and 
imposing effect^ while round tliem were arranged other 
plants distinguished either by beauty of leaf or flower^ and 
the groups at each pillar connected by single rows of dwarf 
plants^ closely placed^ however, and well mossed in, as in the 



Fig. 108. 




Caladium mirabile. 



case of the more important groups. The very close placing 
of the plants is a peculiar part of the arrangement — you 
cannot notice any dividing marks or gaps, yet there is no 
awkward crowding. The fact is that with an abundance of 
plants distinguished by beauty of form, it is almost impos- 
sible to make a mistake in arranging them. 



THE PLANT DECORATION OF APARTMENTS. 271 



These arrangements are infinitely varied at the great 
ballsj both public and private; rocks^ water grottoes^ and 
similar decorations, are occasionally introduced, both in- 
doors and in the open air, and in the gardens behind pri- 
vate honses. The Tuileries Grardens at the time of the great 
fetes were largely decorated in this way, each of the nume- 
rous lamp-posts having a bed of flowers around it, and the 
whole scene being turned into a kind of conservatory in a 
few days. The number of flowers required to do this was 



Fig. 109. 




Pteris cretica albo-lineata. 



something enormous ; and when it is considered that at the 
same time great quantities of plants were arranged both 
indoors and out, in other great public and private buildings, 
some faint idea may be formed of the enormous extent to 
which plant decoration is carried out in Paris. 

To go more fully into details would be useless — very few 
words serve to explain the difierence between their system 
and ours. It simply consists in the use of a far greater 
number of fine-leaved subjects on their part. This, of 



272 THE PLANT DECORATION OE APARTMENTS. 



Fig. no. 



course, has a greater effect in popularizing the use of plants 
in houses ; for how can you make beautiful arrangements in 
this way if you ignore the higher beauties of plant form ? 
The fashion as carried out in such instances as the above 
carries its influences through every grade of society. Thus 

you see people with 
a graceful Yucca 
or young Palm, or 
New Zealand Flax, 
in their windows 
and rooms, who, if 
in England, would 
not in all probabi- 
lity have had an 
idea of the exist- 
ence of such things. 
The extent to which 
the floral embellish- 
ment of the Hotel 
de Yille is carried, 
may be judged 
from the great 
numbers of plants 
grown at Passy for 
that purpose — the 
New Zealand Flax 
which is so very 
useful for indoor or 
outdoor decoration 
Begonia dasdalea. being grown to the 

extent of upwards 

of 10,000 plants, and Palms and all plants with fine leaves 
in great quantity. 

The following few notes on the principal plants which 
serve for window and room decoration in Paris are by 
M. A. Chantin, a cultivator of plants for these purposes 
on a large scale, and the possessor of a very rich collection 
of Palms and other exotics distinguished by beauty of leaf 
or habit. Among these, the Palms, without doubt, occupy 




THE PLANT DECORATION OE APARTMENTS. 273 



Fig. 111. 



the most important position^ are most generally used, 
because of their hardy character and moderate price^, and 
among the very best are the fan-palms — Chameerops 
humilis and excelsa. Corypha australis, although now but 
little known as a house plant, is destined in a short 
time to occupy a foremost place in the decoration of apart- 
ments. It is conspicuous for its peculiar beauty, and the 
number of its leaves, and is, I believe, the most hardy and 
enduring of 
all the Palms 
for indoor cul- 
ture. Cocos 
coronata and 
flexuosa are 
very elegant, 

and produce a 

charming ef- 
fect. Latania 

borbonica is 

certainly one 

of the most 

valuable plants 

of this family, 

and is valued 

as much for the 

deep yet fresh 

green of its 

leaves as for its 

hardiness and 

elegant appear- 
ance. Phoenix 

dactyl if era, 

leonensis, and reclinata are very much sought after, and are 
highly esteemed, also Areca alba, iutescens, and rubra. 

The following Palms could be used with great advantage 
in the decoration of apartments ; but their high price and 
great rarity cause them to be not much knowE, although 
they accommodate themselves to the atmosphere of rooms 
as well as any of those previously mentioned. Areca 




Maranta rosea-picta. 



274 THE PLANT DECORATION OE APARTMENTS. 



sapida, most of the species of the genus Caryota^ Chamse- 
dorea amazonica and elatior, Chamserops Palmetto,, Elseis 
guineensis^ Euterpe edulis^ with its finely-serrated and very 
graceful foliage ; Oreodoxa regia, young plants of which 
are very frequently used ; Phoenix pumila^ Phoenix tenuis, 

Fig, 112. 




Dieffenbachia Baraquiniana. 



Ehapis flabelliformis, Thrinax argentea, T. eleganSj and 
Leopoldina pulchra. 

Next in importance to the Palms we must place the 
Dracsenas. Those which are the most frequently noticed 
are Dracsena australis, cannsefolia, congesta, indivisa, in- 



THE PLANT DECORATION OF APARTMENTS. 275 



Fig. 113. 



divisa lineata, rubra, stricta, terminalis, and umbraculifera. 
Those most easily managed, and therefore the most popular 
for window ornaments, are Dracaena congesta, rubra, and 
terminalis. Pandanus utilis, amaryllifolius Vandermeerschi, 
and javanicus variegatus ; Cycas revoluta, and varieties of 
Aspidistra, occupy also a very important place in the decora- 
tion of apartmetits. 

The plants compos- 
ing the following list, 
although suitable and 
distinct in appearance, 
require somewhat more 
care and attention 
than the preceding. 
Several species of 
Aralia, more especially 
Aralia Sieboldi ; Bam- 
busa j aponica variegata 
and B. Fortunei varie- <t 
vata; the different 
varieties of Begonia; 
most of the Bromelias ; 
Billbergias and allied 
families are very use- 
ful, including the 
variegated Pine- apple, 
which forms a splen- 
did object for placing 

in large warm rooms Gesnera cinnabarina. 

on special occasions. 

Caladium odorum, for winter decoration, and the species 
with the beautifully-spotted and mottled leaves, for the 
summer; Carludovica palmata and plicata; Croton pic- 
tum, pictum variegatum, and discolor; Curculigo recur- 
vata, and several species of the genus Dieffenbachia. The 
Picns elastica is a capital plant for window ornament, and 
some years ago was very much employed for that purpose ; 
bnt since it has become somewhat common Ficus Chauvieri 
has been substituted for it in many places. There are many 

T 2 




276 THE PLANT DECORATION OF APx4IlTMENTS. 

other Eicnses wliicli are suitable for tliis purpose^ and will 
be found most useful when they become plentiful enough. 
Maranta zebrina is the only species of Maranta suit- 
able for cultivation in apartments,, as all the other species 
should be gi'own and kept in the houses^ and only intro- 
duced to the house when extra attractions are desired for 
special occasions. Several species of Musa "are favourites^, 

Fig. 114. 






SaxifraQ:a Fortunei tricolor. 



but principally M. discolor and M. rosea ; Musa Ensete is 
particularly suitable for room culture, but it is still so 
scarce, and of such a high price, that it is but seldom met 
with. Monstera deliciosa was much sought after dur- 
ing recent winters, and has in most places thriven so 
well that it has given general satisfaction. Several 
varieties of Beaucarnea are suitable for rooms, and pro- 
duce a very beautiful and graceful effect when grown in 



THE PLANT DECORATION OE APARTMENTS. 277 



suspended vases or baskets. Rhopala corcovadense is a 
plant that exhales a somewhat disagreeable odour^ but it is 
nevertheless much sought after, on account of its very 
elegant and gracefal appearance during the development of 
its young leaves. Hecktia pitcairnifolia is capital for sus- 
pending in baskets. Tradescantia discolor, Phormium tenax, 
E-hododendrons, Camellias, Grevillea robusta, Euonymus, 
Aucubas, Bonapartea, Agaves, variegated Yuccas, &c., are 
also frequent. In ad- 
dition to the common 
Saxifr^ga sarmentosa, 
which is frequently seen 
with its slender runners 
pendant from window 
baskets in England, 
several other allied spe- 
cies would prove equally 
useful in the same way 
— Saxifraga Fortunei 
variegata, and S. cus- 
cutseformis, for exam- 
ple. 

The family of Ferns, 
although classed among 
plants with delicate tis- 
sues, and having a great 
dislike to dry hot at- 
mospheres, nevertheless 
furnishes numerous ex- 
amples which, ^dth 
careful management, add very much to the beauty of 
apartments. Thus I have very frequently remarked several 
species of Adiantum, which, wherever they can be preserved 
in good health, produce without doubt a most pleasing 
effect. Pteris argyraea, P. cretica albo lineata, and P. ser- 
rulata variegata likewise produce a good effect with their 
prettily marked fronds. Alsophila australis and Dicksonia 
antarctica are also sometimes employed for decorative pur- 
poses in rooms of large dimensions, where their magnificent 



Pig. 115. 




Maranta vittata. 



278 THE PLANT DECORATION OF APAUTMENTS. 



appearance never fails to produce a pleasing impression. 
Neplirolepis exaltata is nniversally nsefnl,, and stands tlie 
air of rooms without the slightest injury. 

Until recently^ I had little belief in the utility of Orchids 
for this purpose, but experience has shown me that they 
may be introduced into a di'awing-room with perfect success_, 
the plants not having suffered in the least by the change of 
atmosphere. The most suitable Orchids are the various 

species of Cattleya^ Vanda^ 
Aerides^ and Cypripedium. 
Doubtless the time is not far 
distant when we may venture 
to try many more kinds than 
we can now afford to do ; but 
even from what we have al- 
ready done in that way, I en- 
tertain no doubt that the Or- 
chid family will eventually 
furnish the most valuable of 
all plants for room decoration. 
True they may not live 
throughout the year in rooms 
as Ficuses and such plants do^ 
but that is not desirable — 
their appearance, as a rule^ 
not being prepossessing when 
out of flower. The quality 
that they do possess,, and that 
which makes them so valuable^ 
is, the thick succulent texture 
Tillandsia splendens. fiowcrs generally. This 

enables them to continue a 
long time in bloom in a room, and a like kind of texture 
enables the leaves to stand during the blooming time without 
injury. 

We ourselves are foremost so far as flowering plants are 
concerned, ours being as a rule better grown. One plant, 
however, cultivated in great abundance around Paris for 
winter blooming, is well worthy of increased attention — 




THE PLANT DECORATION OF APARTMENTS. 279 

Epiphyllum truncatum. There are several varieties, and 
they certainly form most beautiful objects on dull December 

Fig. 117. 




Maranta zebrina. 
Fia. 118. 




Pandaniis javanicus variegatus. 

days. The employment of simple materials is also deserving 
of commendation. Thus the variegated form of the common 



280 "REFORM IN THE CONSERVATOUY. 

Roast-beef plant — Iris foetidissima — may be seen occasionally 
used with good effect. We mostly use hot-country plants 
if we want those that live long in our dwelling rooms, 
but this is a true hardy native which well deserves culture 
indoors,, though in the open air it never presents a very 
striking variegation — ^looks rather undecided, in fact. It 
forms a very pretty plant for room decoration, requires none 
but the most ordinary attention, and is easily obtained. In 
France the plant is rather commonly used as an edging. 
The Acanthuses too, and particularly A. lusitanicus used so 
effectively out-of-doors, are also grown abundantly in rooms, 
where they do very well. Everything proved to do well 
indoors without the protection of a case is a gain to the 
very large class who, from choice or necessity, like to grow 
plants in rooms. 

Reform in the Conservatory. 

There are few things more worthy of the attention of 
the numbers interested in indoor gardening in this country 
than the superior mode of embellishing conservatories and 
winter gardens which is the rule in France and on the 
Continent generally. Conservatories and similar structures 
are, it is true, scarcer abroad than at home, but whenever 
they are erected they are gracefully verdant at all times, 
being filled with handsome exotic evergreens, planted and 
arranged so as to present the appearance of a mass of 
luxuriant vegetation, and not that of a glass shed filled 
with pots and prettiness with which we are all so familiar. 

We build more glass houses than any other nation, but 
have as yet nearly everything to learn as to the arrange- 
ment of the most important of them, or what is usually 
called the conservatory. This in some form is an adjunct 
to a large class of country and suburban houses ; sometimes 
it is well placed and an ornament to the house, but more fre- 
quently a thing which to a tasteful person would seem better 
placed among the out-offices. When unsatisfactory, the cause 
is in the structure of the building or in its contents — often 
in both, generally in the latter. As regards the form and 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



281 



style of building little need be said^ as tbe improvement 
required seems so obvious. When conservatories are built 
near tbe bouse tbey should always present a somewbat 
permanent and arcbitectural character^ and be removed as 
far as possible in stability and appearance from glass sbeds. 
This is desirable for several reasons — chiefly the propriety of 
having a presentable and lasting structure in such an im- 



FiG. 119. 




Cordyline indivisa. 



portant position, and the fact that plants and flowers show 
to greater advantage in a subdued light than in that of the 
glass shed. For growing plants you cannot as a rule have 
too much light ; but when in flower their eff'ect is much 
heightened by being placed in a subdued light. Those who 
consider for a moment the charming eficct of the flowers 
under the thick canvas of the great flower-show tent in the 



282 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



E,egent''s Park^ as compared with tlie aspect of the same 
plants in a well-lighted conservatory or placed in the open 
air, will have no difficulty in appreciating the truth of this. 
It should also be borne in mind that things that are worthy 
of culture for their leaf-beauty alone always associate well 
with substantial surroundings. 



Fig. 120. 




Tree Fern for Conservatory. 



But the grand improvement to be effected is in the con- 
tents of conservatories. They will never be truly enjoyable 
until we display in them beauty of form. Numerous rea- 
sons urge us to endeavour to make a change in this respect. 
The aspect of the greater number of conservatories through- 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



283 



out tlie country is paltry in the extreme^ except perhaps 
when the flush of flower in early summer diverts our eyes 
from the faults of a structure so little conservative of the 
elegant forms and bewitching grace which make the vege- 
table world so attractive. Having these structures staring 
point-blank at our drawing-rooms in numerous instances, it 
is clearly desirable to make them presentable. We build 
hothouses to enable us to enjoy the vegetation of warmer 
and more favoured countries. Let us enjoy it, then, and 
not delude ourselves by cramming our conservatories with 



Fig. 121. 




Polypodium morbillosum. 



all the popular small fry_, from the Cineraria to the Azalea. 
Such things may please the enthusiastic amateur of these 
and like plants ; but plants are capable of higher work 
than thatj and nothing can be hoped for the conservatory 
until a nobler type of vegetation is not only represented, 
but predominates. 

Flowers of a similar, if not of a nearly identical type to 
the popular ones mentioned, abound in our gardens during 
summer, and there is consequently no necessity for letting 
them predominate indoors ; while on the other hand those 
wonderful aspects of vegetation which we can never produce 



284 



UEFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



out of doors in this country may be obtained under glass 
without difficulty. The temperature of conservatories gene- 
rally is sufficient to develope as noble a type of vegetation 
as the hottest stove^ so objectionable from its heat and 
moisture. The grandest of all the Banana tribe (Musa 
Ensete) thrives healthfully in a cool house^ while the Pal- 
metto Palm of the Southern States of America^ the Fan 
Palm of Europe^ Chamserops excelsa^ and the graceful 
Seaforthia elegans^ and many other Palms^ do the same. 



Fig. 122. 




Blechnuni brasiliense. 



Nothing even among Palms can surpass the eflPective 
grace of such Dracaenas as lineata,, Rumphi, umbraculifera^ 
Draco (before it gets very old and branched), brasiliensis,, 
cannsefolia,, and australis ; and they all grow well in the cool 
and agreeable temperature of the conservatory. Numerous 
Eerns_, from those great Dicksonias which at the Antipodes 
rival or surpass the Palms in grace, to the Woodwardias, 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



285 



wliicli spread about siich great fronds covered with swarms 
of little plants on their surface, grow under such con- 
ditions without trouble, compared to what the commoner 
and smaller stuff, as the gardeners call it, requires. For 
instance, a Dracaena, growing in a pot or planted out, 
never requires any attention beyond watering, whereas a 
Pelargonium must be cut down and regrown every year. 



Fig. 123. 




Tlieophrasta rnacrophylla. 



causing much labour for staking, &c. And it is not only 
the Palms, Cycads, Tree Perns, Dracaenas, and fine-leaved 
plants generally which thrive throughout the year in a cool 
temperature that we may enjoy therein ; nearly all similar 
plants that flourish in stoves would well bear being intro- 
duced to the cool conservatory or winter garden after their 
vigorous spring and early summer growth had been matured. 
Left there during the hottest months they would be more 



286 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



appreciated than if in a hot stove^ and they could be taken 
back to their winter quarters in early autunin. 

But perhaps the best plea in favour of the fine-leaved grace- 
fally-built plants that can be ur^ed to the generality of culti- 
vators; is that they enhance the beauty of the ordinary flower- 
ing subjects in a remarkable degree^ and that by their aid 
one-sixth the amount of flowers will suffice to produce 
a more beautiful effect than was ever obtained by the use 
of the blooming plants alone. This is a great point at all 
times, and particularly in winter, when flowers are scarce. 
In winter too the aspect of houses arranged on the system 
I advocate is quite as good as in summer, and more 
grateful from its contrast with the surrounding dreariness ; 
and in summer, when abundance of flowering plants 
may demand more space in the show house,'''' many 
of the fine-leaved ones may be placed in the open air, 
much to their benefit and the improvement of the flower 
garden. 

The greater part of the foregoing having appeared in The 
Field, the following response was di'awn from one of its 
correspondents : — " This subject has long been engaging my 
attention. We do build more glass houses than any other 
nation, for every suburban villa boasts nowadays of the so- 
called conservatory ; but whether these adjuncts are orna- 
ments or not is most questionable. In nine cases out of 
ten, I afiirm, they are far from ornamental, whether viewed 
from the inside or the outside, and it is a wonder to me 
that people consent to have these ill-shapen, ill-adapted 
greenhouses stuck on to their residences. Any one visiting 
the villas built within twelve or fifteen miles of London 
must have noticed the conservatories, so named, attached to 
the houses. I ask, are they even sightly ? 

But there is a point I wish to insist upon much more 
than upon the external ; it is the arrangement of the plants 
inside. What do we find as a general rule ? Long lines 
of white stages with sickly, leggy plants in pots all round 
the house ! If people could all hire efficient gardeners, 
the thing would be different ; the conservatory might then 
be filled with show plants and specimen shrubs creditable 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORr. 287 

alike to the owner and to his gardener. It is needless to 
say that the gardener conld do but little with only one 
house ; what I want to point out is the advantage to be 
derived from a totally different arrangement of the house. 

Fig. 124. 




Cjcas circiualis. 



As you say^ ^ Let us enjoy it^ then, and not delude our- 
selves by cramming our conservatories with all the popular 
small fry, from the Cineraria to the Azalea.^ Just so. For 
goodness sake get rid of all those weakly, insect-infected 



288 



REFORM IX THE CONSERVATORY. 



Cinerarias,, Primulas^ Geraniums^ and others, and plant in 
borders ronnd tlie house plants and shrubs alike easy of 
cultivation and beautiful. You put forward a plea for the 
fine-foliaged plants which it would be needless for me to 
insist upon. Your readers must see that what I am aiming 
at is a graceful and novel kind of shrubbery adjoining the 
drawing-room, rather than a house full of pots. Why not 
make round the house rich borders of the same width you 
would have devoted to these unartistic stages, and plant 
Camellias, Picus, and other such things ? You mention the 
names of many suitable plants of the Palm and Pern tribes, 
and the list could be added to a hundredfold if it were 
necessary. Let us only see the attention of the owners of 
conservatories directed towards this point, and lists of plants 
will soon be published by the horticultural firms. 

As you say, the aspect of these houses is equally beautiful 
in summer and in winter. This is the most thorough praise 
that can be given to the system. To pursue the subject 
yet further I will illustrate. In St. Petersburg, where the 
climate is intensely rigorous, conservatories are even more 
appreciated than here at home. When people cannot 
afford them, you will find their rooms crowded with plants 
of the Palm tribe and numerous creepers, which thrive well 
all the winter ; and it must be remembered that the windows 
are not opened from October till April. In the conserva- 
tories of the wealthy what do we see ? A shrubbery — a 
maze of luxuriant foliage. It matters not whether there be 
50 degrees or 60 degrees of frost : the promenade round the 
greenhouse — truly a greenhouse — is always agreeable, always 
charming. No words of mine could give your readers a 
true idea of the beauty of these places, nor of then- utility 
to those deprived of plants and trees for six months in the 
year. One requires to see these plant houses thoroughly 
to appreciate them. 

" Your readers may object that they are more suited to 
Russia than to our country. Not so. Is it not a melancholy 
exhibition to see our conservatories naked, nearly destitute 
of bloom, during December and January, and equally 
disheartening to see them full of flowers only w^hen the 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 289 

gardens are becoming gay ? Depend upon it^ wliat we 
'want, and what will some day be tlie cry, is an agreeable 
promenade attached to the house — not a swarm of little 
plants in pots, which none but the gardener can name or 
appreciate. And then, again, look at the simplicity of the 
cultivation of the plants whose cause I advocate. Plant 
them fairly in the border, and they will always thrive. 
Azaleas, Geraniums, &c,, are constantly requiring to be 



Fig. 125. 




Alsophila. 



smoked or watered with manure water. Are you to take 
them outside, or into another house, each time they require 
such attention ? If not, and the conservatory adjoins the 
drawing-room, there will be a decidedly unpleasant aroma 
there when either of the above-mentioned processes takes 
place. I could go on to show other advantages connected 
with the system I am endeavouring to put forward ; I could 
attempt a description of the plant house of the wealthy 

XJ 



290 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



banker^ Outcliine, at St. Petersburg ; but I feel 1 bave 
already said too mucb. To my tbinking, it is^ bowever^ a 
truly important topic, and I bope to live to see more 
interest taken in tbe beauty of tbe conservatory, of its tout 
ensemble, and less of tbe rarity of tbe plants and flowers.^'' 

To any person witb a knowledge of -wbat tbe beauty of 
vegetation really is tbere can be no doubt of tbe correct- 
ness of tbese views. Tbe rule 
tberefore in every conservatory 
in tbe land sbould be to use 
plants of bandsome foliage or 
noble babit. Plant tbem in 
beds or borders ; grow tbem 
in pots or tubs; tbe means, 
size, and requirements of tbe 
place must determine on wbat 
scale tbe tbing may be^carried 
out. In some degree tbe effect 
desired may be produced in tbe 
smallest greenbouse ; wbere tbe 
space is large enougb to deve- 
lope tbe effect of tbe finer 
plants named, tbe aspect tbat 
may be wrougbt by tbeir taste- 
ful use will prove ravisbing, 
compared to tbat of tbe old 
display of small-leaved, ordi- 
nary-looking vegetation. 

In planting out, select tbings 
tbat are graceful and orna- 
mental during tbe wbole course 
of tbeir natural lives. Do 
not plant subjects wbicb, like Acacias, run up to tbe roof 
in no time, giving you a mass of bloom for a week or 
two in spring, and a great mop-bead of ugliness for tbe 
remainder of tbe year. A great many greenbouse plants 
grow like tbese ; but if you plant out a Palm like Cbamse- 
rops, or a tbing like tbe New Zealand Flax or tbe superb 
Musa Ensete, tbey are presentable and satisfactory at all 




Goniophlebiuni in suspension 
basket. 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



291 



Fig. 12; 



seasons ; and besides^ do not rnn up against the roof in a few 
years, like many New Holland and other greenhonse plants. 

Every conser- 
vatory should pos- 
sess, in proportion 
to its size, a cer- 
tain niunber of 
green and grace- 
ful plants, or those 
distinguished by 
some peculiar 
beauty of habit, 
which are ready 
at all times for 
fresh combina- 
tions, and look as 
well in mid-winter 
as in June. These 
are not sought for 
by horticulturists 
generally, but cer- 
tain it is that 
without them we 
cannot succeed in 
the successful ar- 
rangement of a 
conservatory at all 
seasons without 
great expense, or 
even with it. 
"What are flowers 
unless set in the 
graceful green 
among which we 
find them nestle 
in a wild state ? 

By the selec- 
tion of a great number of things which flower profusely — 
so profusely as to hide the leaves in many instances, 

u 2 




Testudinaria elephantipes (Elephant's-foot plant). 



292 E.EI'ORM IN THE CONSEEVATORY. 



Fia. 128. 



your modern cultivator lias contrived almost to annihi- 
late leaf beauty. Nature is strongly vigorous in the 
production of leaves,, and in the widest spread of Heath over 
a mountain^ in the densest mass of Bluebells in a wood^ or 
in any natural display of bloom whatever^ you find the 
mass toned down by pointed leaves^ and in the case of the 
spreading Heather by fringe of Polypody and cushion of 
moist mountain moss^ if you go near to it and examine it. 

Everywhere Na- 
ture sets her 
flowers in clouds of 
refreshing green^ 
and therefore those 
who merely culti- 
vate dense flower- 
ing things^ and do 
not take care to 
relieve them with 
others possessed 
of sweet grace and 
verdure, outrage 
nature, and offer 
nothing worthy 
of admiration to 
the educated or 
tasteful eye. To 
have all the 
flowers dished up 
without a bit of 
green, is like eat- 
ing your dinner in the form of a pill — a great saving of 
time no doubt, but still utterly destructive of the joys of 
the table. 

A not unimportant merit of the subjects I so strongly 
recommend for general culture is the great ease with which 
they are cultivated ; no neat staking, delicate attentions, 
or repeated pottings, being required. They may be 
grown with nearly equal facility in pots or tubs or planted 
out. The continental plan of divesting the interior of the 




Maranta micans. 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



293 



conservatoiy of all formality is Trell worthy of imitation 
witli us. Usually an attempt to create a picturesque scene 
in some small spot with formal surroundings has a ridiculous 
ending ; but in consequence of the luxuriant growth of many 
plants that flourish in the temperate greenhouse^ it is pos- 
sible to sufficiently hide almost every trace of the building 



Fig. 129. 




Caladium. 



in a few years. With little lawns made of Lycopodium 
denticulatum^ tiny winding streamlets bordered with New 
Zealand Flax and graceful Grasses_, Eerns^ and the like ; 
groups of Tree-ferns, Camellias, and Palms, and a plant of 
the noble Musa Ensete, I have seen some winter gardens 
made really worthy of the name, and quite as charming 
as veritable bits of nature in climes the most favourable to 



294 



REFOUM IN THE CONSEUVATOUY. 



vegetation. Whether the natural system of arrangement be 
adopted or not^ every attempt should be made to soften the 
lines of the building and to shroud the spot with graceful 
verdure. The use of hanging baskets with creeping plants 
cannot be too much recommended where this end is to be 
attained^ while climbing or twining plants with a pendulous 
rather than an erect habit in the branchlets^ flowering-spray_, 
or leaves should always be preferred. A claim too de- 
serves to be made in favour of singular and curious plants — 
subjects like the Elephant^s-foot plant for example. The 
Monstera with the perforated leaves,, figured in the chapter 
on Subtropical Gardening;, one of the most curious as well 
as one of the handsomest of fine-leaved plants^ thrives 
tolerably well in the conservatory in summer; indeed I 
have known it grown well where it had to pass all the 
winter in a cool house. 

In large places where stove plants are gi^own^ much im- 
provement might be effected by introducing some of them 
into the conservatoiy during the summer months. Stoves 
are so warm during that period that they are seldom \isited^ 
and rarely enjoyable^, and it could hardly be otherwise than 
a gain to see some of their best ornaments in the cooler 
and shaded conservatory during three or four of the warmer 
months. Considering the number of exotics that have been 
placed in the open garden at Battersea during the past few 
yearS;, there is little need to say that the temperature of a 
conservatory will be enjoyed by many stove plants during 
summer. The host of handsomely marked Caladiums^ and 
other fine-foliaged plants that are now in cultivation^ should 
not be kept at all times in a steamy house^ but when at 
their best exposed where people may see and enjoy them. 
Take^ for example^ that noble plant the variegated Pine- 
apple — a subject never seen in our conservatories. Usually 
treated as a stove plant^, and growing best in a warm tem- 
per ature^ it may, when fully grown, be employed in the con- 
servatoiy, and will therein attract the attention of everybody 
who sees it. That it will not suffer there, is evident from 
the fact of its having been employed in the open air in 
summer in the gardens at Cliveden, and with telling effect. 



REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



295 



It also bears Trell tbe dry air of a living room ; but there 
are many stove plants witb leaves having a soft open 
texture ^hich, while they mil not bear the air of rooms, 
will not suffer in that of a conservatory in summer. 

As for Orchids, hothouse Ferns, and other stove plants, 
which do not bear without injury the temperature of the 
conservatory, an arrangement might be readily made by 
which they also could be enjoyed in this structure. A 
conservatory heated to stove temperature would be intole- 

FiG. 130. 




Ananassa sativa variegata. 

rable near the house, and is not desirable elsewhere, the heat of 
the temperate house being so agreeable to our senses. The 
best way to secure means for the display in the conservatory 
of the very tender subjects alluded to, is by making a 
closely-glazed case in some convenient spot therein, and 
fitting it up with rustic shelves. In this might be placed 
any Orchids, choice Ferns, or not over-large stove plants 
that come in flower at any time, particularly in winter, 
spring, and autumn, and by interspersing them with the 



296 



PALMS. 



pretty^ and in many cases beantifully marked plants so 
common of late in om^ stoves^ a charming featm'e may be 
added to tlie conservatory. As tlie plants would only 
remain in this case dnring their period of flowering, and 
the ^^foliaged plants^^ perhaps a few weeks longer, the 
position of the case as to light matters little. Against the 
back or some other wall of the honse is of conrse the best 
position; and if there be an arched recess, or anything in 
that way, it wonld be the very place in which to pnt the 
case. The best example of this that I am acquainted with 
is heated with a few small pipes from the kitchen, which 
is nearly under it ; the little apparatus being distinct from 
that required for heating the conservatory in cold weather. 
Of course it could be readily heated in that way, but it is 
found more convenient and economical to heat it distinctly. 
To heat a little boiler sufficiently to keep any desired tem- 
perature in such a case would be of very easy accomplish- 
ment, and to do it with gas would be very convenient 
mdeed to many persons. The boilers attached to some of 
the propagating houses in the Jardin Fleuriste at Passy are 
thus heated most effectually, and the propagator informed 
me that he could regulate the temperature to a degree with 
this mode of heating. To make the wall and the shelves 
in this case of a rustic character is a good and tasteful plan ; 
they should be studded with 2doss, which if kept moist will 
give off the vapour so congenial to stove plants, and par- 
ticularly Orchids and Ferns, and the vdndows or folding-doors 
should be fitted with large glass, kept clear at all times. It 
would be easy to induce the common Lycopodium and other 
stove mosses to crowd over the back wall, or even to grow 
on turves placed along the front shelves ; and if the rustic- 
work were well done, to stud every spot not used as a 
standing -place for a plant with seedling-ferns, trailing 
plants, &c. 

Palms, 

In conversing one day with M.Barillet, the superintendent 
of the parks and gardens of Paris, he informed me that he 
was more surprised at the marked absence of Palms in 



PALMS. 



297 



English gardens than by any other want, and he thought 
this the more remarkable from the fact that the superb 
collections of exotics grown in many parts of this country 
are quite unrivalled. That the plants which combine 
the qualities of dignity and grace as no others do^ should 
be so neglected in 

a country where ^i^- i^i- 

vast sums are 
spent upon Orchids 
and almost every 
other tribe of 
exotics,, and where 
these are culti- 
vated better than 
anywhere else^ is 
indeed somewhat 
singular. 

The Palms are 
plants that we 
know very little 
about as a rule ; 
but this is not at 
all surprising^ for 
practically they 
belong to a dif- 
ferent world to 
ours. The oppo- 
sitesin every vein 
of their structure 
of our wiry twig- 
ged and tortuous 
Oaks and Elms, 
they are as far 

removed from them geographically as structurally. Avoid- 
ing the cold grim North, they luxuriate in the hottest 
and moistest regions of the earth, spread for thousands 
of miles along the banks of the Amazon and Orinoco 
and their tributaries, running north all the way through 
the Isthmus and ^Mexico^ crossing the Mississippi, and 




Cliamaedorea latifolia. 



298 



PALMS. 



fringing the Gulf. They appear again in abundance in 
the Eastern Archipelago^ they form impenetrable forests in 
tropical Africa,, they occur frequently in North Australia 
and the Pacific Isles^ and flourish^ in fact, in almost every 
torrid country, gradually dying out towards the Poles, 
but going a little further north than souths and ascending 
nearly up to the snow line in Asia. We have in northern 
and temperate regions our gay dwarf meadow flowers set in 
the sweetest grass ; our Oaks and Ashes and graceful 
Bunches ; and our Firs^ which are among the finest and 
most majestic subjects of the vegetable kingdom. We 
have our exquisite alpine vegetation, confessedly inferior to 
none ; but we have not a trace of the noblest of all plants 
as regards form, the Palms. They are therefore more 
worthy of being grown artificially than numerous other 
exotics^ which though requii'ing as much or more heat than 
Palms are by no means so distinct from all northern types 
of vegetation. There are few of us who have not read of their 
grace and magnificence in the Indian isles or Amazonian 
forests ; but the rather humiliating fact remains that in our 
practical horticulture they are almost unknown. From an 
ornamental point of view^ it is not easy to over-estimate the 
loss this is to high gardening. A perfect idea of what they 
are capable of doing for us can hardly be obtained until 
smalb well-grown specimens of the most elegant kinds are 
seen in abundance at our flower shows and in our plant 
houses. 

In this particular respect we are behind the Belgians 
and the Prench who, long ago, recognised the superiority 
of Palms, now cultivate them by thousands^ and employ 
them for every purpose of plant decoration in rooms 
either permanently or for special occasions, in green- 
houses^ stoves^ and for the open garden in summer. 
Nurseries like Chantin^s at Paris, and Verschafi'elt''s at 
Ghent, have house after house filled with Palms, in great 
variety^ some very rare and dear^ many cheap enough for 
the purse of the poor window gardener. It should be 
also noted that they cannot be propagated in quantity 
and with rapidity like many popular plants, so that the 



PALMS. 



299 



formation of such collections lias taken up mucli time and 
pains. It should be observed that while a new Verbena or 
Pelargonium may be fashionable for a season^ or attractive 



Fig. 132. 




Seafortliia elegaiis. 



for a few months^ they are soon lost sight of or perish ; 
whereas Palms,, under ordinary treatment^ go on prospering 
from year to year^ and increasing in value. Some kinds 



300 



PALMS. 



are costly in tlie beginning; bnt there is a great difference 
between growing subjects wbicb at the end of several years 
will be more valuable than when you obtained tbem^ and 
propagating those which multiply so fast with yourself and 
your neighbours that they soon become of only nominal 
value. In consequence of the value to which Palms are 
sure to attain in the future for the decoration of large con- 
servatories, stoveSj and any plants that became too big for 
small inexpensive greenhouses or stoves, could be sold or 
exchanged to those wanting large subjects. This may meet 
the objection of those who regard them as only suited for 
houses like the great Palm stove at Kew. They may be 
grown by everybody in possession of a snug pit, greenhouse^ 
stove, conservatory, or fernery, and it will be found even- 
tually that not a few of them — thanks to their leathery texture 
— will flourish in the dwelling-house without protection. 
Everybody possessing such structures and in the habit of buy- 
ing plants, should secure some few examples, as few others will 
furnish such lasting satisfaction to the buyer ; and there are 
certainly no plants in existence more worthy of becoming 
the fashion. To make them abundant in a country abound- 
ing with things grown for their colour alone, will be to 
ennoble its gardening. 

It is tempting to trace them through the warmer zones — 
to speak of their almost innumerable uses, one species yield- 
ing Palm oil, another Cabbages ; of their striking diversity of 
size, from a little Oreodoxa with a stem no thicker than one 
of our grasses, to Jubsea, whose stem is nearly four feet in 
diameter ; of the species that spread their leaves on the 
ground, and there rest stemless and content, to those that 
shoot up as straight as the columns of a cathedral, to a 
height of between two and three hundi^ed feet, waving their 
plumes far above forest vegetation as vast as our own woods. 
Apart from its beauty, the family is perhaps the most useful 
of all to man ; but we, deriving our food directly or 
indirectly from the grasses, frequently forget their great 
interest in this respect. 

This is far from being the case with the owner of a cot- 
tage on the banks of the Rio Negro. The rafters of his 



PAL3IS. 



301 



dwelling are formed by tlie straight cylindrical stems of tlie 
Jara Palm; the roof is thatclied with large triangular 
leaves neatly arranged in regular alternate rows, and bound 
to the roof with forest creepers : the leaves are those of the 
Carana Palm. The door of his house is a framework of 
thin hard strips of wood neatly thatched over with the split 
stems of a species of Palm. In one corner stands a hea-^y 
harpoon for catching fish^ made of the black wood of the 
Pashiuba variegata. By its side is a blowpipe ten or twelve 
feet long_, and hanging near it a little quiverful of small 
poisoned arrows, with which the Indian brings down birds 
for his food, or for the sake of their gay feathers, or even 
slays the wild Hog or Tapir ; it is from the fierce spines of 
two species of Palm that they are made. His great bassoon- 
like musical instruments are made of Palm stems ; the cloth 
in which he wraps his most valued feather ornaments is a 
fibrous Palm spathe ; and the rude chest in which he keeps 
his treasures is woven from Palm leaves. His hammock, 
his bow-string, and his fishing-line are from the fibres of 
leaves which he obtains from difi'erent Palm trees, according 
to the qualities he requires in them. The comb which he 
wears on his head is ingeniously constructed of the hard 
bark of a Palm ; and he makes fish-hooks of the spines, or 
uses them to puncture on his skin the peculiar markings of 
his tribe. His children eat the red and golden fruit of the 
Peach Palm, and from another species he prepares a 
favourite drink which he offers you to taste. The carefully 
suspended gourd contains oil which he has extracted from 
the fruit of another species. The plaited cylinder used for 
squeezing dry the pulp that makes his bread is made of the 
bark of one of the singular climbing Palms. 

"What veneration this man must have for the noble 
family of Palms, which not only furnishes him with many 
comforts and conveniences, but affords him a choice, so 
that he nicely selects the kinds that best suit his wants. 
Should we wonder if Palm worship were a common creed on 
the Rio Negro ? At least let us hope that they never kneel 
down to a carved idol while such living benefactors as 
those generous Palms are to be found ! These manifold 



302 



PALMS. 



uses came within the observation of only one gentleman, 
Mr. Wallace, and in an almost unexplored country : how 
marvellous would the uses of the tribe appear to us if we 

Fig. 133. 




Carjota sobolifera. 



could but glance at the various races of men who manage 
to exist upon Palms alone ! The cocoa-nut, so plentifully 
grown on the coasts of all tropical countries, is alone said 



PALMS. 



303 



• to have as many uses as there are days in the year. It 
yields every things from cordage to candles^ to say nothing of 
arrackj door-mats^ and Fern fronds. Upwards of 170;000 cwt. 
of a valuable oil, afforded by its kernel and used for soap- 
making, "were imported in the year 1862. Of the oil 
afforded by Elseis guineensis of west tropical Africa, near 
1,000,000 cwt. are imported annually ! The uses of Palms are 
as infinite as their grace is inimitable. Sago, upon which 
whole races solely depend for food ; dates, which feed dusky 
hosts in Arabia and North Africa ; toddy, which affords 
one of those strong drinks the human race always manage 
to squeeze out of something or other in every known 
country, to the peril of their souls and destruction of their 
stomachs ; resins, wax, brooms, books (the old Sanscrit 
was written on Palm leaves), sugar, and the bottoms of 
chairs. 

Clearly they are of the highest interest from an econo- 
mical as well as ornamental point of view ; and we may 
confidently look forward to seeing them abundantly grown 
in the gardens of this country before many years have 
elapsed. The object of amateur growers of these plants 
should be to secure a suitable selection, preferring such as 
are hardy and small in their proportions. Hitherto Palms 
have been for the most part confined to our botanic gardens, 
and in them all sorts were welcome ; but for the purposes 
of private collections we must be more select and choose 
them for their ornamental quahties rather than their bo- 
tanical interest, particularly favouring all the dwarf kinds. 
There can be no doubt that when once the taste for these 
plants is established among us, plant-hunters will search for 
all that is diminutive in this vast family, so that the owner 
of a town greenhouse may enjoy his Palms in pots as well 
as the owner of a conservatory big enough to hold an old 
Date Palm. The collections found in the nurseries of this 
country are by no means so rich as those of the Continent, 
and particularly Belgium ; but many of our larger nursery- 
men keep them in stock, and no difficulty need be ex- 
perienced by the purchaser in getting them. The following 
selection has been made from the collections in our bo- 



304 



PALMS. 



tanic gardens^ and from those in continental and British 
nurseries. 

As there are a greater number of persons "who can 
grow greenhouse than stove Palms_, and from the fact that 
the former class will as a rule prove doubly useful by- 
adorning the open garden in summer as well as the houses 
in winter; we will begin with a list of Palms that may be 
grown in cool houses — i.e., winter gardens^ conservatories^ 
greenhouses^ and even in orchard-houses. 



Chamserops excelsa 

„ Fortune! (si- 
nensis). 
J, Gliiesbreghtii. 
„ bumilis. 
„ Palmetto. 
„ tomentosa. 
Cocus australis. 
„ Bonnetii. 
campestris. 
Corypba australis. 
Latania borbonica. 



Molinia cbilensis (syn. 

Jubaea spectabilis). 
Phoenix dactylifera. 
farinifera. 
humilis. 
„ leonensis. 

pumila. 
„ reclinata. 
„ sylvestris. 
tenuis. 
Ehapis flabelliformis. 



Sabal Adansonii. 

„ Mocini. 
Seafortliia elegans. 

„ robusta. 
Tlirinax parviflora. 

tunicata. 
Areca lutescens. ' 
Brabea calcarea. 

dulcis. 
Diplotheniium mariti- 
mum. 



Of Stove Palms there is abundance. Some of those that 
grow well in the cooler houses flourish healthfully in the 
warmer ones_, simply growing faster therein ; and the con- 
stitution of hot- country Palms is generally such that they 
flourish without much special care in hothouses. The 
following are among the more desirable kinds : — 



Areca aurea. 

„ monostachya. 
nobilis. 

„ rubra. 

,, sapida. 

„ speciosa. 
Astrocaryum mexica- 

num. 

Bactris, all obtainable 

species. 
Calamus elegans. 

„ dealbata. 

„ Verscbaffeltii. 
Caryota sobolifera. 

„ elegans. 
Cocos coronata. 

flexuosa. 
Copernicia cirrifera. 
Eleeis guineensis. 
Latania glaucophylla. 



Latania aurea. 
Pritchardia pacifica. 
Euterpe edulis. 

oleracea. 
Geonoma fenestralis. 
„ magnifica. 
„ paniculata. 
pumila. 
speciosa. 
Verscbaffeltii. 
Hyphsene thebaica. 
Maximiliana elegans. 
Oreodoxa regia. 

Gbiesbregbtii. 
Oncospermum fascicu- 

latum. 
Pboenicopliorium secbel- 

larum. 
Pbyteleplias macro- 
carpa. 



Arenga obtusifolia. 
Calamus adspersus. 
Kliaphia Hookerii. 

,, tsedigera. 
Sabal princeps. 
Thrinax argentea. 
J, elegans. 
,, radiata. 
Verscbaffeltia melano- 
chsetes. 

„ splendida. 
Ceroxylon audicola. 
Cbamffidorea excelsa. 
„ paniculata. 
. atro-virens. 
Dsemonorops plumosus. 
Leopoldina pulcbra (ex- 
pensive and rare). 
Calamus Getah. 
„ oblongus. 



Most of the above range in price from two shillings^ 



THE IVY, AND ITS USES IN PARISIAN GARDENS. 305 

and even lessj to half a guinea each^ wliile some of the 
rarer kinds go mucli higher^ and strong well-grown specimens 
of all are of course much more expensive than the small 
and young plants to be bought for the prices above 
given. 

The Ivy, and its Uses in Parisian Gardens. 

The Irish Ivy is a very old friend that is often seen beauti- 
fying old walls and like positions_, and one^ as we may have 
thought^ sufficiently appreciated and employed. Gaiety and 
grace I was led to expect in Parisian gardens, but that they 
should take up our Hibernian friend, so partial to showers and 
our mossy old ruins, and bring him out to such advantage in 
the neighbourhood of new boulevards and sumptuous archi- 
tectm^e, was not to be expected. That " a rare old plant is 
the Ivy green when it creepeth o^er ruins old/^ we Britons 
all know, but that it is no less admirable when mantling 
objectionable surfaces with its dark polished green in winter, 
would not appear to have yet sufficiently dawned upon us. 
Apart from the fact that the Iyj is the best of all evergreen 
climbers, it is the best of aU. plants for softening the aspect of 
town and suburban gardens in winter, not to say all gardens. 
The Parisian gardeners know this fully, and they, taking it 
out of the catalogue of things that receive chance culture, 
or no culture at all^ bring it from obscurity and make of it 
a thing of beauty. 

To rob the monotonous garden railings of their naked- 
ness and openness, they use it most extensively, and there 
are parts about Passy where the Ivy, densely covering the 
railings, makes a beautiful wall of polished green along the 
fine wide asphalte footways, so that even in the dead of 
winter it is refreshing to walk along them. And if it does 
so much for the street, how much more for the garden? 
Instead of the inmates of the house gazing from the windows 
into the street swarming with dust, or splashing with mud, 
a wall of verdure encloses the garden ; privacy is perfectly 
secured; the effect of any flowers contained in the garden 
is much heightened ; and lastly, the heavier rushes of dust 
are kept out in summer, for so admirably are the railings 



306 THE IVY, AND ITS USES IN PARISIAN GARDENS. 



FiG. 134. 




covered by planting the Ivy rather thickly, and giving it 
some rich light soil to grow in, that a perfectly dense 
screen is formed. Railings that spring from a wall of some 
height around the larger houses are covered as well as those 
that almost start from the ground. Frequently the tops of 
the rails are exposed, and often these are gilt, while wire 
netting on the inner side supports the Ivy firmly. 

One day, as I was passing near the Hotel de Ville, and 

looking at its tra- 
ceries, my eye was 
caught by some- 
thing more attrac- 
tive than these : a 
gilt-topped railing 
densely covered 
with Ivy, and be- 
tween the mass of 
dark green and 
the bared spikes at 
the top a seam of 
light green foliage, 
here and there 
besprinkled with 
^ long beautiful ra- 
cemes of pale 
purplish flowers. 
_;=::^^iJ'.j!''' Tj^at was the Wis- 

Tliis figure also ^^^^i^^ of the 

the grating over most beautiful of 

China^s daughters, 
here gracefully 

throwing her arms round our Hibernian friend, and forming 
a living picture more pleasing to the eyes of a lover of nature 
than any carving in stone. If there are tall naked walls near 
a Parisian house, they are quickly covered with a close car23et 
of Ivy. Does the margin of the grass around some clump of 
shrubs or flower beds look a little angular or blotchy ? If 
so, the Parisian town gardener will get a quantity of nice 
young plants of Ivy, and make a wide margin with them, 



Railings densely covered with Ivy 
shows the wide asphalte pathway 
the ground at the hase of one of the trees, and the 
cage used to protect its stem. 



THE IVr, AND ITS USES IN PARISIAN GARDENS. 307 



wMcli margin he will manage to make look well at all times 
of the year — in the middle of winter when of a dark hue, 
or in early summer when shining with the young green 
leaves. 

When the Ivy is planted pretty thickly and kept neatly 
to a breadth of, say^ from twelve to twenty inches, it 
forms a dense mass of the freshest verdure, especially in 
early summer, and of course all through the winter, in a 
darker state. The best examples of this description of edging 
that I know of anywhere are to be seen around the gardens 
of the Louwe, and in the private garden of the Emperor 
at the Tuileries. In the latter the Iyj bands are placed on 
the gravel walks, or seem to be so ; for a belt of gravel a 
foot or so in width separates 
them from the border proper. Fig. 135. 

The effect of these Ivy bands - ' ' ^ 
outside the masses of gay . 
flowers is excellent. They are 
the freshest things to look 
upon in Paris during the 
months of May, June, and 
July. They form a capital 
setting, so to speak, for the 
flower borders— the best, in- > 

deed, that could be obtained ; ^^Sings in geometrical 

. . garden. 

while in themselves they 

possess qualities suflBcient to make it worth one^s while 
to grow them for their own sakes. In some geometri- 
cal gardens we have panels edged vdth white stone — an 
artificial stone very often. These Ivy edgings associate 
beautifully with them, while they may be used v>dth ad- 
vantage in any style of garden. A garden pleases in direct 
proportion to the variety and the life that are in it ; and all 
bands and circles of stone, all unchangeable geometrical 
patterns, are as much improved by being fringed here and 
there with Ivy and the like, as are the rocks of a river^s 
bank. 

It should be observed that an Ivy edging of the breadth 
of an ordinary edging is not at all so desirable as when its 

X 2 




308 THE ivr, AND ITS USES IN PARISIAN GAKDENS. 



sheet of green is allowed to spread out to a breadth of from 
fifteen to eighteen inches. Then its rich verdure may be 
seen to full advantage. It must of course be kept within 
straight lines if the garden be symmetrical : if it be a 
natural kind of garden^ you may let it have its own wild 
way to some extent. In nearly every courtyard in Paris 
the Ivy is tastefully used. I do not think I ever saw the 
scarlet Pelargonium to so great advantage as in deep long 
boxes placed against a wall densely covered with it^ and with 
Ivy planted also along their front edge^ so as to hang down 
and cover the face of the boxes. One of the best known of 
the floating baths on the Seine has a sort of open air 
waiting-room immediately outside its entrance — a space 



gurgling rapidly beneath. This is secured by placing 
deep boxes filled with very rich light soil here and there on 
the bare space ; then planting the Ivy at the ends of each box 
and devoting the remainder of the space to flowers^ keeping 
the soil well watered^ and training the shoots of the Ivy 
to a neat light trellis overhead. 

In the garden of the Exposition a pretty circular bower 
was shown perfectly covered with it, the whole springing 
from a tub. Imagine an immense green umbrella with the 
handle inserted in a tub of good soil, boards placed over 
this tub, so as to make a circular seat of it, and you will 
understand it in a moment. That and the like could of 
course be readily made on a roof, wide balcony, or any such 




Fig. 136. 



made by planks, and 
communicating with 
the quay by a gangway. 
On this space there are 
seats placed around, on 
which in summer people 
may sit and wait for 
their turn if so dis- 
posed, while the whole 
is elegantly embow- 



Section of circular bower formed of a single 
plant of the Irish Ivy grown in a tub. 



ered with Ivy, which 
looks as much at home 
as if the river was not 



THE IVY, AND ITS USES IN PARISIAN GARDENS. 309 



position. One sunny early summer day^ when tlie Ivy was 
in its youtliful green, I met with a shallow bower made of 
it that pleased me very much. It was simply a great erect 
shell of green not more than five or six feet deep, so that 
the sun could freshen the inside into as deep a verdure as 
the outer surface. 

The Ivy may he readily grown and tastefully used in a 
dwelling-house. I once saw it growing inside the window 
of a wine-shop in an obscure part of Paris, and on going in 
found it planted in a rough box against the wall, up which 
it had crept, and 
was going about 
apparently as 
carelessly as if 
in a wood. If 
you happen to 
be in the great 
court at Versail- 
les, and, requir- 
ing guidance, 
chance to ask a 
question at a 
porter''s little 
lodge seen to the 
left as you go to 
the gardens, you 
will be much in- 
terested to see 
what a deep in- 
terest the fat porter and his wife take in Cactuses and 
such plants, and what a nice collection of them they have 
gathered together, but more so at the sumptuous sheet of 
Ivy which hangs over from high above the mantelpiece. It 
is planted in a box in a deep recess, and tumbles out its 
abundant tresses almost as richly as i£ depending from a 
Kerry rock. 

The Ivy is also used to a great extent to make living 
screens for drawing-rooms and saloons, and often with a 
very tasteful result. This is usually done by planting it in 



Fig. 137. 




Variegated Ivy in suspension basket. 



310 THE IVY, AND ITS USES IN PARISIAN GAUDENS. 



narrow boxes and training it up wirework trellises, so tbat 
with a few of such a living screen may be formed in any 
desired part of a room in a few minutes. Sometimes it is 
permanently planted; and in one instance I saw it beauti- 
fully used to embellish crystal partitions between large 
apartments. 

To make the Ivy edgings which are so abundantly employed 
in and around Paris, plants are easily procm^ed in pots, and 
at a very cheap rate, at the markets on the quays, or of the 
nurserymen at Fontenay aux Hoses, who every year grow it 
in large quantities. It is planted thickly in borders, and 

trailed along in 
strips from twelve 
to sixteen inches 
in width, accord- 
ing to the size of 
the beds. It is 
laid down with 
wooden pegs, a 
layer of earth 
being placed over 
^ the stems. When 
Ii once planted, it 
I only needs to be 
kept clear of 
weeds, and to be 

Ivy screen for the drawing-room with flowers at 

its base. moderately water- 

ed. Under this 

treatment, it forms healthy borders the year after it is planted. 
In preparing the Ivy for growing against railings and trellis- 
work that encloses the various parks and gardens, it is 
trained carefully during the first one or two years, so that 
all empty spaces may be filled up. At the end of the 
second year, the railings will be completely covered, and for 
the future it is only necessary to keep it properly pruned. 

The Ivy used by the City of Paris for ornamenting the 
flower beds in the squares, the trunks of trees, &c., is grown 
and propagated at the nurseries in the Bois de Eoulogne. 
Towards the end of the summer the propagation of the Ivy 



Fig. 138. 




THE IVY, AND ITS USES IN Px\RISIAN GARDENS. 311 



by means of cuttings is carried on. Three or four leaves 
are left on each cutting, and they are planted very thickly in 
lines in a half-shady position. When they have taken root 
sufficiently, which generally takes place in the following 
spring, they are transplanted into pots of four or five inches 
in .diameter. Afterwards stakes are fixed along the lines of 
pots, from which are stretched lines of thin galvanized wire, 
and to this slender but firm trellis from three to five feet 
high the plants are trained several times during the growing 
season. At the end of the second or third year the plants 
are strong enough to be employed to cover railings, and for 
many similar purposes. The nurserymen in the suburbs of 
Paris generally propagate them by layers. For this purpose 
old plants are placed at a certain distance from each other, 
and are allowed to grow long. Pots from four to six inches 
in diameter are then plunged in the ground aronnd, the Ivy 
being fixed in them by means of small pegs, one shoot in 
each pot. Afterwards stakes are placed in the pots, and 
the Ivy trained against them as it grows. When the layers 
are sufficiently rooted, they are separated from the old 
plants, and towards the end of the second or third year it 
is ready for nse. If a wide belt of Ivy is desired, the 
young plants may be put in in two or three rows, as the 
French do when making such excellent Ivy edgings as are 
here described. In any case, after the plants are inserted 
the shoots must be neatly pegged down all in one direction. 

The reason why Ivy edgings when seen in England look 
so poor compared with those in Paris, is that we allow them 
to grow as they like, and they get overgrown, wild, and en- 
tangled, whereas the French keep them the desired size by 
pinching or cutting the little shoots well in, two or even 
three times every summer, after the edging has once at- 
tained size and health. The abundant supply of established 
plants in small pots enables the French to lay down these 
edgings so as to look well almost from the first day. 



312 



CHAPTER XIV. 

TRUIT CULTUSE : HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE ? 

The discussion on French and EnglisL. fi-uit growing which 
emanated from my letters to the Times in Angust_, 1867, 
and afterwards spread through all the gardening papers, 
was too desultory to leave any impression on the public 
mind as to the best course to pursue. For this reason 
therefore, and to prevent misrepresentation, I entered on 
the question of the general improvement of our hardy fruit 
culture in the Times in May, 1868 ; and in this chapter I 
propose to enter more fully into this very important ques- 
tion. Some have so little understood me as to suppose that I 
had recommended the cordon for orchard culture, which 
would be a stupendous blunder only worthy of some nur- 
seryman very anxious to sell his trees. Therefore, although 
the present subject may seem wide of the aim of the book, 
it is necessary to enable the reader to estimate the value — 
be it small or great — of what we may learn from continental 
fruit growers, and how we may improve our supplies. The 
fruit question is not one that merely concerns those who 
can afford to keep gardeners, or even the much larger class 
who can devote some time and money to the pleasant and 
healthful amusement that amateur gardening affords ; it is 
a question for the public in its widest sense, and of especial 
importance when considered in relation to the enormous 
and badly supplied masses in our ever-growing great cities 
and towns. 

I shall first deal with the Pear, for several reasons : — 
1st. CoDsidering its hardiness, keeping qualities, and rich 
variety, it is the most delicious and valuable fruit that can 
be grown in northern latitudes. A perfect Peach may be pre- 
ferred to a first-rate Pear, but by properly selecting varieties 



FRUIT CULTURE. 



313 



of Pears we may have tliem in perfection during eight or 
nine months of the year — or even longer — and the variety 
in flavour is perhaps greater than in the case of any other 
fruit. 2nd. We are quite behind the French growers in 
its production. Our stocks of Apples are usually good and 
abundant ; our stocks of Pears are frequently scarce and 
very poor in quality. I have seen many large gardens in 
the British Isles where a really good Pear was almost as rare 
as a Mangosteen. 3rd. I believe we can increase the quan- 
tity and quality of our Pears in a tenfold degree over the 
greater part of England and Ireland, and even in time to 
come export the fruit that we now import so largely. 

It is indisputable that the brighter sun of France is more 
favourable to the culture of the Pear than our own climate ; 
but it is equally as true that by the aid of walls for some 
sorts, by judicious selection of ground, locality, and kinds, 
we may grow it to perfection. The quantity of pears the 
French send to our markets is surprising. Messrs, Draper, 
the salesmen of Covent-garden, showed me by their books 
that from one importer alone they sell from 60^. to 100/. 
worth of French garden produce (chiefly Pears) each market 
day ; and a fruit merchant has told me of one dealer in 
pears who annually collects in France and sells in our 
markets 10,000/. worth of that fruit. Are not these signi- 
ficant facts for the British cultivator ? 

It is quite a mistake to suppose that the climate does all 
this for the French — the winter and spring in many parts of 
northern and north central France being quite as dif&cult 
for the fruit grower as those of England. The pear loves a 
moist, genial climate, and in many parts of England and 
Ireland our advantage in this respect will be found to 
compensate in some degree for the difference in sunlight. 
Some pears are grown better in England than in France, 
and it is a curious fact that some that ripen and go off 
quickly in the neighbourhood of London remain in an 
eatable state much longer and acquire a more delicious 
flavour in the cooler climate of Yorkshire. Let it be borne 
in mind that we are talking of the culture of a fruit which 
grows in a wild state as far north as southern Sweden, and 



314 



mUIT CULTURE : 



not of the Pomegranate or any really tender subject; and 
then the objections of those who say that our climate 
prevents any improvement_, and perhaps immediately after- 
wards assert the superior quality of British-grown fruity 
will pass for no more than they are worth. If one 
individual can grow a first-class Pear_, why not a score or 
more persons in the same neighbourhood? Nature is our 
willing handmaid in this matter^ and I firmly believe that 
we have it in our power to place this fine fruit within 
the reach of all^ and render ourselves quite independent 
of the French. I do not say we could grow such big Belle 
Angevine Pears as they sell at Covent-garden for a guinea 
and a half apiece ; but that is of no consequence^ as these 
are at best only fit for show or kitchen use^ and are, in fact, 
little better for eating than a raw turnip. 

There are various ways in which we may improve the 
culture of the Pear, and the first and best is by paying 
more attention to it as a naturally developed standard 
tree — in a word, by an improved system of orcharding. 
This also applies to other hardy fruit trees, and is treated 
of at greater length further on. Upon orchards we must 
chiefly depend for the supply of our large cities and towns. 
This subject, in its commercial aspect, may be left to the 
growers of fruit for the market, but the country gentleman 
and large farmer — in fact, everybody possessing a hedgerow, 
field, or shrubbery — cannot be too strongly urged to use the 
great opportunities they have for growing Pears. They 
grow useless shrubs and weedy trees in many places where 
the finest fruit might be grown without any attention, 
expense, or trouble beyond gathering it. There are 
plenty of landed proprietors who at present know not what 
it is to have the luxury of a stock of good Pears, who might 
gather them from spots now utterly useless ; there are multi- 
tudes of farmers who hardly ever see a good fruit of this 
kind, in possession of lines of hedgerow where the tree would 
stand as healthfully from among the lower brushwood as 
any subject that now embellishes them ; and there are 
thousands of owners of villas and suburban gardens who 
now go to market for their fruit who might gather it from 



HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE ? 



315 



places in their little shrubberies^ at present entirely devoted 
to that miserable shrub the Privet, and some of its most 
worthless allies. I know well the kind of objection that is 
made to some of these suggestions — the boys would gather 
the fruit, &c. Small blame to the poor boys for making an 
occasional attempt on the little fruit that comes in their 
way, and for exercising a little ingenuity in getting at what 
is for them such wholesome and delicious food ; but if the 
fruit were as plentiful as it ought to be they would not be 
so tempted. 

It should be remembered that some of our hardy fruits 
are capable of affording quantities of wholesome food to the 
people; but before they do so efficiently we must take 
them out of the class of things that are carefully walled 
in gardens, overdone with kindness, or perhaps mutilated 
to death by excessive and unnatural pruning, and recognise 
and take full advantage of the fact that many excellent 
kinds are as hardy and easily grown as the Blackberries 
and Sloes of the hedges. For the purposes herein sug- 
gested thoroughly hardy and free-growing sorts should alone 
be selected; but it must not be supposed that first-class 
fruit, even of the continental varieties, cannot be produced 
in this way. The other day in visiting the gardens at Oak 
Lodge, Kensington, my attention was attracted by a very 
large and handsome Pear tree growing among the Rhodo- 
dendrons and other choice shrubs which adorn the margin 
of a piece of rock-bound water. Upon further inquiry I 
found it was a fine old tree of the Beurre Diel, which, 
without pruning or attention of any kind, produced abun- 
dantly such good fruit, that of twelve samples of the same 
fine variety recently laid before the Fruit Committee of the 
Koyal Horticultural Society the fruit of this tree was pro- 
nounced the best. I by no means mention this as a 
remarkable instance, but merely to prove that the finest 
Pears may be grown by the simplest means, and that the 
tree is worth cultivating for its beauty alone. The garden 
of Oak Lodge is the best designed town garden I have yet 
seen, and Mr. Marnock, who arranged it, left several 
of these old Pears in conspicuous positions when laying 



316 



PRUIT CULTURE : 



out the place solely for their beauty as trees,, apart from 
their fruiting qualities. Therefore it is clear that we may 
eflPect considerable improvement by planting this tree in 
shrubberies^ pleasure grounds, and like positions, and in 
many wild and semi-wild places, both in enclosed private 
grounds and in the open country. There can be no doubt 
that enormous quantities of good fruit could be grown upon 
railway banks now useless, and from which fruit could be 
so readily conveyed to market. The French are nearly as 
backward in these matters as ourselves, but they have at all 
events taken the initiative, as described in another part. 
It is really astonishing that such beautiful objects as most 
of our fruit trees are when in flower do not more fre- 
quently occur outside the garden walls in this country. 

The second way in which we may improve the cultivation 
of the Pear is by planting it to a greater extent as a pyra- 
midal tree, and grafted on the Quince where the soils are 
rich, moist, or deep. On many dry and sandy lands the 
Pear must be grown on its own stock, and for orcharding 
purposes generally that may safely be pronounced the best. 
Indeed, one writer suggested this as the remedy for all our 
wants in this way ; but it is not so. We shall never have a 
cheap supply for market till we pay more attention to the 
Pear as a freely developed standard tree ; we shall never have 
a first-rate supply of winter pears till we pay better atten- 
tion to walls than we do at present. The French, from 
whom we have adopted the pyramidal form, employ it to an 
enormous extent, but do not stop there. It is in planting 
the pyramid that most of our improvement in this direction 
has taken place for a good many years back. Almost every 
nurseryman has now a stock of the tree in this form, and 
we cannot employ it too much, provided sorts that ripen 
well in ordinary seasons are selected ; but there are other 
ways of equal importance. The pyramid is so pleasing in 
outline, and indeed in all other respects, that, although so 
highly suited for the kitchen or fruit garden, it should by 
no means be confined to either. Handsome specimens may 
well be introduced in favourable spots in the pleasure ground 
and shrubberies, and thus the owners of those numerous 



HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE? 



317 



small ornamental gardens near towns may gather fine fruit. 
However^ tliis form is so well known, and has been so much 
recommended for many years, that I shall now turn to the 
third way of improving the culture of the Pear, and one 
that has been comparatively neglected for some years past. 

I mean the Pear on walls. Here we are certainly behind- 
hand, and do not appear to have made much progress for a 
very long time. Perhaps it may be thought that the French 
might dispense with walls ; but no such thing. They find 
them indispensable for the perfect culture of the finer winter 
Pears ; and were it not for their use, they could never obtain 
such a stock of them as they have. Yet we have for a long 
time past been paying attention to almost every kind of 
garden improvement but this very important one. It is true 
that walls are expensive, but once up it is a great pity to 
neglect them ; and, apart even from garden walls, there are 
numerous places with as much wall surface naked and use- 
less as, if properly covered, would yield a good supply of 
fruit to the family. Few things combine beauty and utility 
more efl^ectively than a well-covered wall of Pear trees ; and 
the creation of such is not a matter of mystery or difficulty, 
but what anybody can perform. With walls it may be 
safely said that our climate is as good as that of northern 
Prance. Indeed, there can be no doubt about it, as I and 
many others have eaten as good fruit off well-managed English 
wall-trees as ever grew; but unfortunately there is but 
little attention paid to them compared to what they deserve. 
Most large gardens would be benefited by having a much 
greater proportion of wail-surface than they have at pre- 
sent; to many small ones they would prove a great ad- 
dition. Fortunately, a recently-invented, or revived, process 
offers an opportunity of building them very much cheaper 
than before, and as good as could be desired. 

I allude to TalFs plan for making concrete walls, which 
has not as yet been utilized by horticulturists, but which is 
certain to prove of the greatest use to them, and to have a 
marked influence on our horticulture for the future. I have 
seen it employed with much success in the building of the 
Emperor^s model houses for workmen near the Bois de 



318 



IRriT CULTURE: 



Yincennes^ and from tlie dav of visiting them I have had no 
doubt whatever that it will prove a gi^eat gain in our fruit 
growing. The building of houses by its means is simple 
and as easy as could be desired^ although none but the 
roughest labourers are employed; that of walls may be 
effected even with greater ease. The Paris houses were built 
with very rough gravel dug up on the spot. The same 
or any like material may be used for like purposes^ as 
may burnt clay, stony rubbish of any kind^ or even such 
material as clinkers,, abundant and hitherto useless in many 
districts. I need not and cannot here go into the plan^ but 
it consists in little more than mixing a small portion of 
cement and sand with the rougher material^ and throwing 
the mass between boards firmly adjusted to the size of wall 
required. The mass hardens in twenty-four hours or so^ 
then the boards are elevated^ another layer of concrete 
thrown in^ and so the work goes on. It will be clearly 
seen that nothing can be better suited for garden purposes. 
In addition to this mode^ I know no reason why walls of 
adhesive earth on a brick or stone foundation should not be 
used with us as well as on the Continent. I have seen 
many of these garden walls and houses perfectly sound and 
strong many years after their erection^ and looking no worse^ 
indeed better^ than ordinary brick walls. 

No matter of what material the wall be made^ it wiU be 
desbable to whiten its surface and keep it white. Black 
and dark coloured surfaces absorb heat in the daytimC; and 
give it out again during the night in the form of radiant 
heat j from which facts we might draw the conclusion that 
walls for training fruit trees against should be blacky or at 
any rate of a dark colour'. Direct experiment was^ however^ 
necessary to settle this question^ and M. Yuitry^ who em- 
ploys his leisure in arboriculture^ has commimicated the 
results of his experiments in this dii^ection to M. du Breuil^ 
which leave no doubt as to the proper colour to be chosen 
for walls against which fruit trees are to be trained. He 
has proved — 1st. That a thermometer hung dm^ing the day 
with its face turned towards a white wall; at a distance from 
it equal to that of a fruit tree trained against it — i.e.j about 



HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE ? 



319 



an incli and a qnarter — always showed a mean temperature of 
nearly 6 deg. Fahr. higher than one hung against a black wall 
under precisely similar circumstances. 2nd. That during 
the night the difference of temperature shown by these two 
thermometers was inappreciable. Contrary therefore to 
the opinions entertained by many persons^ it seems to be 
evident that the walls must be whitened when we wish to 
give the trees trained against them the maximum amount of 
heat to be obtained from the particular climate and aspect. 
Indeed, it is precisely the plan that has already been pur- 
sued by the fruit growers of Montreuil for Peach trees, and 
of Thomery for their Vines^ it having been frequently re- 
marked that trees trained against white walls were healthier 
than those nailed to more or less dark-coloured ones. This 
result is easily explained, for not only does the lighter colour 
reflect more heat back to the trees, but by this means they 
receive a greater quantity of light ; and it is well known 
how greatly vegetation is stimulated by these agencies. 
Walls of a light tint are advantageous in another way, for 
they not only reflect light and heat on the particular trees 
trained against them, but also on the others in their imme- 
diate neighbourhood. By abundantly planting the finer 
winter Pears against walls with a warm exposure and white- 
washed surface, we may within half a dozen years gather 
such crops of the really valuable winter Pears as have never 
before been seen in this country. 

Another improvement must of necessity accompany this, 
and that is the French method of wiring garden walls. 
We cannot use nails with concrete and earth walls, and 
if we could the deliverance from nails would be a great 
point gained. To me the most lamentable of all garden 
sights is that of men handling those miserable shreds and 
nails during winter time^ and blowing heat at their fingers 
and patting their toes to keep up the circulation. Our way 
of wmng a wall is so expensive and cumbrous that many 
still prefer the nails, but the French mode of employing a 
little raidisseur or tightener on each wire, and using very 
slender galvanized whe, is quite perfect in its way. When 
adopted with us it wiU be found to save much time 



320 



PRUIT CULTURE : 



and greatly improve tlie appearance of garden walls. Yfe 
mnst also adopt the improved kind of espalier wMch the 
French are beginning to employ so extensively, and which 
is elsewhere described and figured. 

Of all our wants in connexion with the Pear, that of the 
spread of good varieties is perhaps the greatest. Naturally, 
or rather I should say in a wild state, the Pear is a poor 
fruit about an inch and a half long ; and from this in the 
course of thousands of years the splendid race we now 
possess has sprung. Scattered through our gardens and 
orchards in all parts of this kingdom, there are scores of 
kinds which are practically of httle more use than the wild 
fruit trees of the woods and hedgerows. But apart from all 
these worthless varieties, named and unnamed, that occupy 
valuable ground, there are numbers which are regularly 
sold in our nurseries, possessing fine names and pedigrees, 
and yet which are practically useless to the cultivator, and it 
may be mischievous to the amateur. Let us suppose the case 
of a person wishing to commence Pear culture — he has some 
slight knowledge of other branches of horticulture, and expects 
that the long list of the varieties of Pears which he finds in his 
nurseryman^s catalogue will resemble each other pretty much 
as his Verbenas or Pansies do. Taken by the different names 
and descriptions, he goes in for collection instead of selection, 
seeks variety and finds disappointment. The truth is that a 
wide selection of varieties is an evil in every way. It 
requires much sagacity on the part of men who have studied 
gardening all their lives to know what to avoid in these 
lists; how very dangerous, then, for the amateur, or for 
those who have neither amateur nor professional knowledge 
of the matter, to make a selection 1 Let us glance for a 
moment into some of the fruit catalogues. It is needless 
for us to state how much the Pear varies. Here is a cata- 
logue naming, describing, and numbering nearly 400 kinds. 
What a danger for those w^ho suspect not how few are the 
really good varieties of Pears suited to this climate ! People 
suppose that giving long lists of this kind is for the sake of 
selling a great number of varieties ; but that com-se would 
be so clearly a mistaken one, that one cannot suppose an 



HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE? 



321 



intelligent person persisting in it. Tlie presence of bad and 
unsuitable Pears everywhere througbout tbe country simply 
tends to retard tbe culture of this noble fruit ; whereas the 
distribution of the really good kinds in abundance would 
create such a demand for them as would cause the trade in 
young trees to increase tenfold. 

The compilers of the above catalogues do not follow the 
example of the famous M. de la Quintinye, chief gardener 
to Louis XIV. at VersailleSj whose list was lengthy, although 
published so very long ago_, but who conscientiously divided 
it into several sections — viz., " good pears/-* " indiflPerent 
pears/' and " bad pears V This was honest in De la Quin- 
tinye, and would be admirable in a British nurseryman. 
The spirit of expurgation was strong in this famous old 
gardener, and he follows the bad with another list — a long 
one — heading it — Besides the pears which I know not, here 
is a particular list of those which I know to be so bad that I 
counsel nobody to plant any of them.'-* And that is followed 
by another: — ^^A list of those which I esteem not highly 
enough to counsel any gentleman to plant them, nor yet so 
much despise as to banish them out of the gardens of them 
that like them.'' Here was an instance of a most praise- 
worthy desire to weed out the bad, followed by others to 
exterminate the middling and the not very good. This, 
observe, was in France, where a greater number of kinds 
arrive at perfection than is the case with us, and where a 
greater number of varieties are grown. Although our 
nurseryman friend, with his long list, is somewhat of 
an exception, the lists of others of our fruit-tree raisers 
are much too long to be of any real guidance to the 
amateur. 

The following list comprises the cream — the best Pears 
of the many hundred kinds known : — Doyenne d'Ete, Jar- 
gonelle, Williams's Bon Chretien, Louise Bonne of Jersey, 
Jersey Gratioli, Urbaniste, Tondante d'Automne, Beurre 
d'Amanlis, Suffolk Thorn, Seckel, Comte de Lamy, Flemish 
Beauty, Desire Cornelis, Marie Louise, Baronne de Mello, 
Thompson's, Beurre Bosc, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Beurre 
Diel, Beurre Hardy, Marechal de la Cour^ B. Superfin^ 

Y 



322 



FRUIT CULTURE: 



Doyenne du Cornice^ Glon Morceau^ Winter Nelis^ Benrre 
Eance^ B. Sterckmans^ Josephine de Malines^ Bergamotte 
Esperen, Easter Benrre. 

Of tlie above^ Marie Louise, BeuiTe Bosc, Dncliesse 
d^Angouleme, Benrre Diel, Doyenne du Cornice, Glou 
Morceau, Benrre Bance, Josephine de Malines, Bergamotte 
Esperen, Easter Benrre, Benrre Sterckmans, Desire Cornelis, 
and Winter Nelis should be grown against walls. In some 
cases they may afford a satisfactory result away from them, 
but if grown against white walls they will in all cases be 
highly improved, and some of the very best of them are 
only to be had in perfection when thus grown. As wall 
space is often limited, and as it is necessary to have the 
warmest walls to perfect the finest winter pears, it is desirable 
to be very particular indeed when selecting pears for wall 
culture ; and I should advise Easter Benrre, Doyenne du 
Comice, Glou Morceau, Benrre Ranee, J osephine de Malines, 
and Bergamotte Esperen to be abundantly planted against 
walls wherever a prime supply of first rate winter pears is 
a want — and of course it is a very general one. 

Some of our authorities on fruit growing give the Easter 
Benrre as one which should be planted as a bush or pyramid, 
and say it is " mealy and insipid from walls.'''' To show how 
worthless is this opinion,! have merely to point to the fact that 
the splendid Easter Beurres which adorn our tables in winter 
and spring are grown on walls in Erance. All of the same 
variety for the imperial table are grown in like manner at 
Versailles ; and as soon as a wall is cleared of other varieties 
of Pear trees there it is immediately planted with the Easter 
Benrre — so much is this fine variety esteemed. The quantity 
of its fruits sold in the markets of Europe during the winter 
season is something incredible. It is perhaps the most valu- 
able of all winter Pears ; and the chief, I may say nearly the 
whole supply comes from France. The climate does it, some 
will say, but such is not the case ; for if left to the climate un- 
aided, we should have few fine Easter Benrre pears in Covent- 
garden in winter. And the same remark applies to other 
varieties of winter Pears. The flavour is said to be inferior 
when grown against walls. Let us try them against white 



HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE? 



323 



walls as the French do, and see if we cannot nearly or quite 
equal their pears in size,, and quite equal them in flavour. 
We have been for years planting them as bushes and 
pyramids, and paying little or no attention to their culture 
against walls; hence our deficiency of good winter pears — 
those which are by far the most valuable of all. 

Having taken sufficient care to select the very best va- 
rieties, and to place them in positions where they are likely 
to succeed, there is more to be done in getting rid of the 
bad ones. They abound in every part of the country, and 
take up space in which the most delicious kinds may be 
grown. This prevalence of bad kinds not only results fi^om 
the greater scarcity of the good varieties in bygone days, 
but also from the large number of inferior kinds that are 
still offered for sale. In very many cases the tree is 
worthless, because it has not been planted in a position to 
insure success. It frequently happens, for example, that 
the very finer kinds of winter Pears, and those which the 
French grow against walls around Paris, are in Britain 
sent out as suitable for pyramids. All worthless Pear trees 
should be destroyed, and good kinds planted or (happily 
there is an alternative) regrafted with good sorts. Instead 
of sacrificing a plantation we may cut the trees close in, 
regraft the branches with the best kinds, and thus in a 
short time have established trees of the finest sorts that 
arrive at perfection in any given locality. This may be 
performed with either standard, pyramid, wall, or espalier 
trees, " crown " grafting being the best for this purpose. 
Another great point would be gained if the custom of 
growing inferior kinds from pips — which is common 
among farmers in some fruit growing districts, with Pears 
as well as other hardy fruits — were abandoned, and only 
first-rate and hardy kinds planted or grafted. 

It was touching the utility of the low cordon for the 
production of superb dessert Apples that we have had most 
discussion; and a much wider experience with French fruit 
gardens enables me to say that it is worthy of all the praise 
that I have given it, and certain, when well managed, to 
give the highest satisfaction. The reader will kindly ob- 

Y 2 



324 



FRUIT CULTURE : 



serve tliat I specially recommend only one species of cor- 
don for the Apple. There are many kinds^ with varions merits. 
The grower for market will also oblige me by bearing in 
mind that I only recommend it for the garden and for a 
special pm-pose. Emphatically I say that a good hardy 
kind on a well-managed standard or naturally developed 
tree is the best for the supply of the markets with all but 
the best fruits, and for all ordinary purposes; and that the 
system of orcharding in the London market gardens is on 
the whole a good and safe one. Generally speaking our 
apple-culture is not to be complained of, though it may 
certainly be improved. There is in this country a large 
demand for fruit of the finest quality that can be obtained, 
both in the case of those who buy all they use and those 
who grow their own. In these islands it is also generally 
admitted that to keep the sun from the general contents of 
our gardens by shading them with Apple trees is anything 
but desirable, and therefore I recommend the cordon trained 
as an edging, and on wire, tightened as before described, 
at one foot from the groimd. I have ascertained beyond 
all question that where well managed these will, if placed 
alongside the walks in the kitchen and fruit gardens, fur- 
nish abundance of fruit without planting any others. 

Now, in many places the positions in which this plantation 
may be made are quite unoccupied, and therefore the system 
will prove a decided gain. It will have to encounter pre- 
judice and bad management ; but once well managed speci- 
mens are seen in our gardens it will spread rapidly through 
these islands, and prove a great boon wherever perfect fruit 
is desired. I have passed through many parts of northern 
England and Scotland during the past year or two — districts 
in which every ray of sun is required ; and yet in these you 
see in all directions the gardens shaded and half destroyed 
by old standard Apple trees. This is especially the case with 
the smaller class of gardens, in which you Diay frequently 
see gouty old trees shading and souring the aspect of the 
very house itself. The objections urged against the simple 
cordon are dealt with in the chapter devoted to this system 
of culture. Let no person think he has fairly tried 



HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE ? 



325 



the cordon system if lie employs what is called tlie " English 
Paradise'''' stock. 

And now a few words about the Peach. This fruit 
attains the iinest possible condition when well grown against 
walls in England. In other countries it may be grown 
freely as a standard tree ; in none can they produce finer 
or better fruit than may be gathered from walls in England 
and Ireland. France has very diverse climates — some in 
which the Peach grows well as a standard — but the best 
Peaches grown in France are gathered from walls in those 
parts where the climate is most like our own. In the 
middle of September^ 1867^, I ate capital specimens of 
Crawford's Early Peach, gathered from pyramid trees stand- 
ing in the open quarters of the Rev. Mr. Benyon's garden 
in Suffolk. I by no means mention this as an example to 
be followed, but simply to prove that in the midland and 
southern parts of the British Isles the Peach may be grown 
against walls to the highest degree of perfection ; and in 
favourable parts of the south, the Early York Peach may be 
grown with success as a standard or bush tree, away from 
all protection. 

There can be no doubt whatever about the fact, that if 
we pay as much attention to the Peach as the cultivators of 
Montreuil do, we can attain quite as good a result. The 
fact cannot be too widely known that no fruit tree nailed 
against walls furnishes a more certain and regular crop than 
the Peach tree when well treated ; and yet it is hardly possible 
to buy a good Peach in London. In Covent-garden, it is 
true, excellent Peaches may be bought at Sd. and 1^. each, 
but those sold by most fruiterers at Sd. and 4<d. are worse 
than those procurable in Paris for a sou, and are only fit 
for pig-feeding. And in numbers of private gardens the fruit 
is by no means common. Our good gardeners understand its 
culture well enough ; but of late years public attention has, 
by various means which I wiU not detail here, been called 
away from the fact that, with walls, we can produce the 
finest fruit in the world, and without them do little or 
nothing with the choicer fruits. The " power of the climate 
in Paris may be very wonderful to some people, but there is 



326 



EEUIT CULTURE : 



one tMng it cannot do better than onr own — it cannot 
produce a better Peach, than I have often gathered from 
walls both in England and Ireland. It wonld be thought^ 
perhapS; that with their fine climate^ the French wonld 
be able to dispense with protection to the trees in spring, 
and altogether leave their trees more to nature than the 
British gardener; but the fact is exactly the reverse. The 
French peach- grower takes care to have a good protecting 
coping to his wall. With us it is not uncommon to see the 
culture of the Peach and Nectarine attempted, and even with 
success, without any coping at all. The French cultivator 
frequently places iron rods eighteen inches or two feet long, 
and furnished with a catch at the end, just under the per- 
manent coping of his wall, which rods enable him to slip on 
a most efficient protection in the shape of a temporary 
coping just under the permanent one. I know one grower 
who has 4000 yards of this temporary coping, made of tar- 
paulin, stretched on cheap light frames. 

This is, I trust, a sufficient commentary upon the cHmatic 
advantages possessed by the two sets of gardeners ! Of 
course we want this protection as badly as the French, if 
not worse. Over the greater part of the country, without 
question, the Peach may be grown to the highest degree of 
perfection, and yet, though few Englishmen could manage, 
as Johnson did, seven or eight large peaches of a morning 
before breakfast began,'''' they may well say with him that 
getting " enough^'' of them was indeed a rarity. It is stated 
in a recently published book on fruits that for the majority 
of the population to partake plentifully of this fruit, ^^the 
only hope that can be held out involves nothing less than 
an emigration across the Atlantic \" The present state of 
matters justifies the writer in the remark. The quality of 
the Peaches sold at the lowest, but by no means a low price, 
is such as to prevent anybody making a second investment 
in them, and therefore the fruit is, as the writer remarks 
in describing it, a luxury confined to the wealthy.''^ 
Before it is otherwise, good fruit must be sold at a price 
that will put it within tasting reach of others than those 
provided with a powdered footman to convey it from the 



HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE? 



327 



fashionable fruiterers to the carriage waiting at the end of 
the Kow/"' To market gardeners I may with respect to 
this fndt offer a word of advice^ though I have not ventured 
to do so with regard to other matters. To succeed with 
the Peach you must remove it altogether from the chance 
culture now bestowed upon it; you must employ men to 
give it full attention in spring and early summer ; you must 
select suitable soil in the first instance^ and thus avoid 
expense for what is called made ground. You must 
take care to protect the trees in spring_, as the careful 
French cultivators do ; and you must take advantage of the 
very cheap and excellent way of erecting walls that I have 
alluded to. No chance culture on any walls that may 
happen to sm'round the place will alter matters much. 

The same remarks apply to some extent to the private 
gardeners and to amateurs. They should pay more atten- 
tion to walls^ erect more and utilize those they already 
have. I had a letter lately from Mr. J. A. Watson of 
Geneva,, in which the writer describes a village church 
as being covered with Peaches and Nectarines^ and goes 
on to state that the sexton gives a lecture on the su.bject 
now and then to the natives on Sunday mornings. I do 
not wish the example to be followed^ nor the glorious old 
Ivy to be disturbed even for the luscious Peach ; but we 
may do a good deal more than at present with our unoc- 
cupied walls. Probably many readers who live near Oxford 
can testify to the beauty and profit that results from the 
villagers covering their walls with Apricot trees. The same 
may be done in many parts of England where such a thing 
is not now to be seen ; but in the case of cottagers and 
others the only thing likely to do good is example. If they 
see a specimen of success they need no other encourage- 
ment. And perhaps I may here suggest that a present 
of a few good kinds of trees^ and perhaps a few minutes^ 
advice from the gardener^ would be more productive of 
benefit to cottagers than many other things given them in a 
charitable way. 

As to our various other hardy fruits^ including the Apple 
and Pear^ there can be little doubt that it is to good 



328 



PRUIT CULTURE : 



orchard culture we must look for the increase of our sup- 
plies. The word orchard is familiar enough in our ears_, but 
a really good orchard is as rare round country seats as if it 
were not a British institution. There are farmers and 
market gardeners and fruit growers who have the finest 
orchards; but at the country seat_, with generally every 
opportunity to select a good site^ it is surprising how rarely 
even a presentable thing of the kind is attempted. Indeed, 
in some parts of the country it is never thought of — the 
ordinary type of kitchen garden being considered sufficient 
for all attempts at fruit growing. I say attempts advisedly, 
for what do half the gardens in the country show ? The 
surface cannot be devoted to standard trees, as they hide 
the Kght from the necessary crops, and the walls and dwarf 
trees, if such there be, are those upon which the gardener de- 
pends. Now good wall culture is not common, even in 
places where a regular staff of gardeners is kept ; and in 
hundreds of cases where there are not, the trees are " aban- 
doned to themselves.^^ But supposing that the wall culture is 
good, and that the most is made of the space, it is hardly 
sufficient to yield a crop of fi^uit such as one would like for 
eating, cooking, preserving, and presents. If the walls 
supply a good dessert for a reasonable length of time, it is 
as much as is expected of them, and more than they gene- 
rally do. They who secure a good crop of winter Pears, 
who can command really eatable specimens of this fruit 
during the winter and spring months, are luckier than most 
persons in possession of garden walls. The walls can only 
supply a portion of the choicest fruit — chiefly of those kinds 
which require the additional heat of a wall for their perfect 
development and flavour. 

Let us next glance at the frait trees in the garden itself. 
Standards we see are not much grown; they shade the 
ground too much, and the crops are better when fully 
exposed to sun and air. In some places the culture of 
bush and dwarf pyramidal trees is carried on successfully, 
but in general it is so backward that nothing like a good 
crop is gathered. Besides, all dwarf closely pruned and 
accurately trained trees require considerable expense and 



HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE ? 



329 



time ; and it is sheer folly to bestow these on kinds which 
will produce as good a result if grown as standard trees, 
requiring hardly any attention,, and actually permitting of 
as good a crop of some things being gathered from under 
them as if the trees did not exist. Perhaps there may be 
a few espaliers in the garden ; but they are usually so very 
iew, and so very badly managed and ugly_, that little fruit 
is got fi'om them. I look forward to the time when the 
well trained espalier, on its cheap, neat, and permanent 
trellis of galvanized wire, will run along within a few feet 
of every garden walk ; but little can be reaped from such 
as we have at present. It follows, then, that in private 
grounds there is as a rule no source from which an abun- 
dant stock of the better kinds of hardy fruit may be gathered. 

Most of our fruits are wholesome and delicious food, or 
capable of being made so. They should be much more 
abundant than they are at present, and might form part of 
the daily meal of every Briton. But if the country gentle- 
man, to whom the production of these fruits should be a 
matter of the greatest ease, does not lead the way, how are 
we to improve ? The chief thing necessary is to plant an 
orchard, carefully choosing the site, and, above all things, 
selecting the very best kinds, all perfectly hardy, and such 
as ripen their fruit every year, be the season what it may. 
Such an orchard would be very convenient near the garden, 
and in fact might form part and parcel of it ; but as the 
care required is nearly none, except the pleasant one of 
gathering the fruit, it would not matter much about its 
position. The first consideration should be the selection of 
the most suitable soil at the owner^s disposal. Not an inch 
of space of the whole need be lost. All the trees should be 
allowed to grow as standards, and the crops to be gathered 
from them would soon put to shame the few dozens that are 
considered a wonderful crop on the wall or dwarf tree. All the 
wall, dwarf, and espalier trees might then be exclu- 
sively kinds that require some additional heat or atten- 
tion, or that the shelter and support of the espalier and 
the cordon are an advantage to. As protection of some 
kind might be provided for most of these carefully trained 



330 



FRUIT CULTURE : 



treeS; it would of course be wise to include among them all 
the sorts most liable to be injured by spring frosts. And 
such kinds are so abundant that all the walls and espaliers 
might well be devoted to them. 

The apparent utility of such an orchard is so great that 
to speak of its beauty can hardly be necessary ; and yet we 
question if those who ought to be most interested in the 
matter have the least idea of this. It is difficult for those 
who do not live in a good fruit growing or orcharding dis= 
trict tohave any notion of what an ornamental as well as useful 
thing a good orchard or fruit garden is. I have never any- 
where seen in gardens of the usual type such a picture as I 
did during the past year in the well managed orchards or fruit 
gardens of a west London market gardener — one who devotes 
about sixty acres to fruit culture. His groves of Cherries, 
Pears_, and Plums were superb — the Plum trees, densely laden 
with their purple eggs, being as attractive from colour alone 
as many ornamental plants are when in flower. The pro- 
duce is enormous, compared to what we are accustomed to 
from the garden managed in the ordinary way. Of course 
such a scene is a garden in the best sense of the word. An 
acre or two planted after this fashion would be productive 
of more satisfaction than any other attempt at fruit growing, 
though it is by far the most inexpensive of all. 

The only points to be attended to as regards pruning, 
are an occasional winter pruning to open them up to the 
fall influence of light, and a thinning of the fruit buds to 
concentrate the energies of the trees, and thereby much im- 
prove the value of their produce. These operations per- 
formed once every second or third winter will do much good. 
It is true that without them the pear may be profitably culti- 
vated; but I know of one instance near London in which a 
grower of the Pear as a standard, or orchard, tree on an exten- 
sive scale has doubled the market value of his fruit by well 
thinning the buds and branchlets — operations which are 
carried out in winter, when time can be most readily 
spared for such work. If this were generally dane by 
orchardists it would lead to much improvement. The 
orchard once planted it would not prove much addition to 



HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE? 



331 



the labour of tlie gardener^ and the abundant crops migbt 
often save him from the grumblings that are sometimes 
known to accompany large garden expenditure and a 
scarcity of vegetables and fruits. 

Having said so much in favour of good orchard 
culture it behoves me to give the names of the kinds 
of hardy fruit that do best as standard orchard trees : — 
Pears : Jersey Gratioli_, Doyenne du Comice^ Citron des 
Carmes^ Jargonelle^ Williams''s Bon Chretien^ Aston 
TowUj Beurre de Capiaumont_, Louise Bonne of Jersey, 
Suffolk Thorn^ Thompson's Pear^ Beurre d'Amanlis^ Swan''s 
Egg;, Croft Castle^ Doyenne d'Ete^ Comte de Lamy, 
Knight's Monarch,, Althorpe Crassane^ ^larie Louise, and 
Beurre Superfin. Apples ; Borovitsky, Early Harvest^ Irish 
Peachj Joanneting, Summer Golden Pippin^ Lord Suffield, 
Keswick Codlin^ Adams's Pearmain^ Blenheim Pippin, Cox's 
Orange Pippin^ Early Nonpareil, Golden Pippin, Ribston 
Pippin, Sykehouse Busset, Bedfordshire Eoundling, Haw- 
thornden^ Yorkshire Greenings Golden Noble^ Court Pendu 
Plat^ Golden Harvey, Sam Young, Sturmer Pippin, Beauty 
of Kent, DumeloVs Seedling, Boyal Pearmain, Tower 
of Glammis, and Pitmaston Nonpareil. Plums : Pond's 
Seedlings Early Bivers, Orleans, Gisborne's, Victoria, Prince 
Englebert, and Damson. Cherries : May Duke, Early 
ProHfic, Bigarreau, Late Duke, Knight's Early Black, Belle 
Agathe, Rival, and Mammoth. Apricots (for standard trees 
in the southern counties) : Breda, Brussels, Turkey, and 
Moorpark. Figs : Black Tschia, Brown Ischia, Brown 
Turkey, and Courcourcelle Blanche. These would be better 
grown as shrubs, with low sweeping branches, and buried in 
the ground in winter to save them from the frosts, as the 
Erench do about Argenteuil. Medlars ; The Nottingham is 
the best kind. Nuts : Lambert's Filbert (Kentish cob) is 
the best ; Purple Eilbert, Pearson's Prolific, and Cosford 
also good. Of the Quinces the Portugal is the best. The 
Berberry is rarely cultivated, though worth that trouble. 
"Where the fruit is much in request, it would be a good 
plan to inclose the orchard with a dense hedge of this shrub. 
The stoneless variety is the best, but it is not easy to get the 



332 



FRUIT CULTURE : 



true kind. The smaller fruits are so well known and abun- 
dantly grown that it is needless to speak of them. 

Of the various waste spaces where good fruit might be 
grown the most conspicuous are the railway embankments. 
Here we have a space quite unused_, and on which for hun- 
dreds of miles fruit trees may be planted, that will after a 
few years yield profit^, and continue to do so for a long time 
with but little attention. I am not aware that any attempt has 
been made to cultivate fruit trees on these places in England ; 
but learning that one had been instituted in Ymnce, I went 
to see the experiment which has been made for a distance 
of eight leagues or so along the line from Gretz to Colom- 
miers — Chemin de Per de TEst. The French see the great 
advantage of utilizing spots at present worthless in this way, 
and are beginning to work at it; but to all intents and 
purposes they are nearly as backward as ourselves. It is 
true you now and then hear of somebody becoming a rentier 
by planting a barren mountain side with Cherries, but on 
the whole they have nearly as much to do as we have with 
regard to fruit culture in waste and profitless places. How- 
ever, they have commenced, and it is most likely the first trial 
will be a profitable one, though by no means so inexpensive 
as like ones might be made. 

A cheap fence of galvanized wire runs on each side of the 
line, and on this Pear trees are trained so that their branches 
cross each other ; and they are, though only in their fourth 
year, at the top of the fence. In some parts they are trained 
in like manner on the slender but very cheap and slight 
kind of wooden fence, so common in France. By training 
them in a way to cross and support each other, before the 
time the fence decays the trees are perfectly self-supporting, 
and form a very neat fence themselves. This is a plan well 
worth adopting in many gardens where neat dividing lines 
are desired. Judging from appearances, these trees will bear 
abundantly for many years to come. But this, although 
something in the right direction, does not occupy more than 
a mere thread of the space on each side of the line, and I cannot 
but think that much more might be done on the remaining 
surface by planting small trees. It would be a great point 



HOW ARE WE TO IMPROVE? 



333 




gained if we could have dwarf productive trees without 
having to go to expense for fixing or training them — if we 
could make them self-supporting^ in fact. 

It is quite possible to train espaliers of the choicest 
varieties of pears so that they shall be perfectly self- 
supporting; as shown by the 
figure, or in some like way. Fig. 139. 

Established trees that I saw 
crosssed in this way were not 
allowed to get into a rough 
hedge-like condition, but, on 
the contrary, trained as neatly 
and perfectly as ever trees 
were on trellis or wall. No 
flaying of the branches re- Young line of self-supporting 
suited from their being inter- 
laced. A shoot was taken along the top so as to act as a 
finish and tend to hold all tighter, and the whole looked 
much firmer and neater than the ill-supported and ill-trained 
espaliers that one too often sees at home. Other examples 
of self-supporting espaliers are figured elsewhere in this 
book. 

A mere line of trees, however, trained along a railway, 
will not eff*ect the improvement we require. Why not plant 
pyramid or bush trees in such positions ? Why not the Fig 
in the southern counties ? By covering nearly all the sur- 
face of those sunny banks — in many cases of excellent soil — 
there would be enough work to do to make it necessary 
and profitable to have men in charge of comparatively short 
lengths of the line, and these men wo aid be able to better 
protect the fruit. On the French railway in question the 
fence of fruit trees is carried along, no matter what the soil 
or situation. A more rational system would be to adopt the 
kind of tree to the soil, and simply take the more desirable 
spots at first. 



334 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 

The first thing we have to settle is, What is a cordon ? 
There has been some little discnssion on this point — discus- 
sion that was utterly needless^ and even mischievous, as 
tending to prevent the public knowing exactly what the 
term is used for. It simply means a tree confined to a 
single stem ; that stem being furnished with spurs, or some- 
times with little fruiting branches nailed in, as in the case 
of the peach when trained to one stem. Some contended 
that it meant any form of branch closely spurred in ; but 



Fig. 140. 




The Apple trained as a Simple Horizontal Cordon, grafted on the French 
Paradise Stock, and in full bearing. 



this is quite erroneous. The term is never applied to any 
form of tree but the small and simple stemmed ones. The 
French have no more need of the word to express a tree 
trained on the spur system than we have, and they have 
trained trees on that system for ages without ever calling 
them by this name. Before it was given to the forms of 
Apple and Pear and Peach-trees shown in this chapter, or 
rather before they came into use, it was chiefly applied to a 
mode of training plants horizontally — each plant resembling 
what we call the bilateral cordon. (See the engravings illus- 
trating Vine culture at Thomery.) However, to settle the 
use of the term, I wrote to Professor Du Breuil, the leading 
professor of fruit culture in France. His reply was thus 



THE CORDON SYSTEM OE FRUIT GROWING. 335 



alluded to in tlie Gardener's Chronicle : — What a vast 
proportion of controversy and dispute might be saved^ would 
people only agree as to the meaning to be attached to 
words. Just now^ as it appears to us^ a great deal of 
unnecessary discussion is raised as to the word ^cordon.' 
A wrangle about words is about as satisfactory as an argu- 
ment to prove a negative. It may serve^ perhaps^ to stop 
this futile wordy debate to give the opinion of M. Du Breuil 
himself on the matter. This renowned horticulturist, in a 
recently written letter, which has been submitted for our 
inspection, says that he applied the word ^ cordon ' to trees 



Fig. 141. 




Tree with "horizontal branches. This form, verj commonly seen in our gardens, 
has been called a " cordon" by some writers, but has nothing whatever to do 
with that form. 

consisting of a single branch, bearing fruit- spurs only, 
and never allowed to ramify. When there are two such 
branches, M. Du Breuil applies the expression ^ double 
cordon.-* In order to be quite accurate, we subjoin M. Da 
Breuil^s letter verbatim et literatim : — 

Le mot ' cordon ' derive en fL'an9ais de cord : j^ai 
employe cette expression pour designer les formes d''arbres 
dont la charpente se compose seulement dWe seule branche 
qui ne porte que des rameaux a fruit.'' 

Professor Du Breuil states distinctly that, struck with 
the long period it took to cover a waU by means of the 



336 THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 



larger forms of trees, lie adopted those quick-rising simple- 
stemmed kinds to cover tlie walls rapidly and give an early 
return. Now it is clear tliat if we call a fan^ or horizon- 
tally trained tree, a " cordon/^ we not only misapply the 
term, but prevent the inventor's very clear idea from being 
understood. Notwithstanding this, some persons have 
actually figured the old forms of fruit trees common in 
our gardens for ages and called them cordons. To show 
how erroneous is the impression that the term applies to 
any kind of tree with the branches closely pinched in, I 
have merely to state that the cordon Peach trees in Fi'ench 
gardens are not pinched in in this way, but have the 
wood regularly nailed in, just the same as the common Peach 
trees on our garden walls. However, the figures in this 
chapter will give a correct idea of what the cordon system is. 

A simple galvanized wire is attached to a strong oak post 
or rod of iron, so firmly fixed that the strain of the wire may 

Fig. 142. 




The Simple Horizontal Cordon. 



not disturb it. The wire is supported at a distance of one 
foot from the ground, and tightened by one of the handy 
little implements described elsewhere in this volume. The 
raidisseur will tighten several hundred feet of the wire, 
which need not be thicker than strong twine, and of the 
same sort as that recommended for walls and espaliers. 
The galvanized wire known as No. 14 is the most suitable 
for general use. At intervals a support is placed under 
the wire in the form of a piece of thick wire with an 
eye in it, and on the wire the Apple on the French paradise 
is trained, thus forming the simplest and best and com- 
monest kind of cordon, and the one so extensively employed 
for making edgings around the squares in kitchen and fruit- 
gardens. 



THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 337 



Cordons are trained against walls^ espaliers_, and in many 
waySj bnt tlie most popnlar form of all^ and the best and 
most useful, is tlie little line of Apple trees acting as an 
edging to tlie quarters in the kitchen and fruit garden. 
By selecting good kinds and training them in this way 
abundance of the finest fruit may be grown without 
having any of the large trees or those of any other 
form in the garden to shade or occupy its surface. The 
bilateral cordon is useful for the same purposes as the 
simple one, and especially adapted to the bottoms of walls, 
bare spaces between the fruit trees, the fronts of pits, or 
any low naked wall with a warm exposure. As in many 
cases the lower parts 

of walls in gardens are l^^- 
quite naked, this form 



of cordon offers an 
opportunity for cover- 
ing them with what j i 
will yield a certain and "^-=^^^---=====^^=^^ Tff 

valuable return. It is ^ - '^^^^jf 

by this method that the -^^^ , ..s^g 

finest coloured, largest, ^^'^^^^I^M3^^ffi^fe^=^ 

and best French Apples The Cordon ' on low sunny wall of plant-house. 

1 T • J. 1 In this way Calville Blanc, Reinette du 

sold m Covent-garden Canada, the Lady Apple, Melon - Apple, 

and in the Paris fruit American-Mother, Newtown Pippin, and all 

, V. I," "U. the finer and tenderer French, American, and 

Snops at SUCn nign British apples may be grown to perfection. 

prices are grown. I 

have seen them this year in Covent-garden and in Regent- 
street marked two and three shillings each, and M. Lepere fils, 
of Montreuil, told me when with him last summer that they 
have there obtained four francs each for the best fruit of the 
Calville to send to St. Petersburg, where they are sold in win- 
ter for as much as eight francs each ! Why should we have 
to buy these from the French at such a high rate ? Con- 
sidering the enormous number of walled gardens there are 
in this country, there can be no doubt whatever that by 
merely covering, by means of this plan, the lower parts 
of walls now entbely naked and useless, we could supply 
half a dozen markets like Covent-garden with the very 



338 THE CORDON SYSTEM OF ERUIT GROWING. 



choice fruit referred to^ and be entirely independent of the 
Frencli. 

Doubtless many think that these very fine fruit require a 
warmer climate than we have for them. But by treating 
them as the French do we may produce as good or a better 
result, and may, in addition, grow tender but fine apples, 
like the Cahdlle Blanc, that do little good when grown as 
standards. The climate in most parts of England will be 
found to suit them quite as well as that of Paris, if not 
better, because the sun in France is in some parts a little 
too strong for the perfect development of the fiesh and 
flavour of the apple. There is no part of the country 
in which the low cordon will not be found a most useful 
addition to the garden — that is, wherever first-rate and 
handsome dessert fruit is a want. So great is the demand 



Fig. 144. 




Young Cordon of the Lady Apple trained as an Edging. 



in the markets for fruit of the highest quality that some- 
times the little trees more than pay for themselves the first 
year after being planted. In any northern exposed and 
cold places where choice apples do not ripen well it would 
be desirable to give the trees as warm and sunny a position 
as possible, while the form recommended for walls should be 
used extensively. In no case should the system be tried 
except as a garden one — an improved method of orcharding 
being what we want for kitchen fruit, and for the suj)ply 
of the markets at a cheap rate. 

"When lines of cordons are perfectly well furnished the 
whole line is a thick mass of bold spurs. Some keep them 
very closely pinched in to the rod, but the best I have ever 
seen were allowed a rather free development of spui^s, care 
being taken that they were regularly and densely produced 



THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 339 



along tlie stem. If anybody -will reflect that as a rule the 
full vigour of tlie ordinary espalier tree flows to its upper 
line of branches, he will have no difficulty in seeing at a 
glance the advantages of the horizontal cordon,, particularly 
if he bears in mind that the system as generally applied to 
the apple is simply a bringing of one good branch near the 
earth, where it receives more heat, where it causes no 
injurious shade, and where it may be protected with the 
greatest efficiency and the least amount of trouble. 

The system is simply an extension of the best principles 
of pruning — a wise bending of the young tree to the 
conditions that best suit it in our northern climate. The 
fact that by its means we bring all the fruit and leaves 
to within ten inches or a foot of the ground^ thereby ex- 
posing them to an increase of heat, which compensates to a 

Fig. 145. 



The Bilateral Cordon. 

great extent for a bad climate, will surely prove a strong 
argument in its favour to every intelligent person. 

The form is so definite and so simple that anybody may 
attend to it, and direct the energies of the little trees to a 
perfect end, with much less trouble than is requisite to 
form a presentable pyramid or bush. It does not, like 
other forms, shade anything ; and beneath the very line of 
cordons you may grow a slight crop. They are less trouble 
to support than either pyramid or bush ; always under the 
eye for thinning, stopping, and pruning ; easy of protection, 
if that be desired ; and very cheap in the first instance. 

A few words are necessary as to the best method of planting 
and managing the Apple trained and planted around the 
quarters or borders. In a garden in which particular neat- 
ness is desirable it would be better to plant them within 
whatever edging be used for the walks ; but in the rough 
kitchen or fruit garden they may be used as edgings. The 

z 2 




340 THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 



reason for supporting the cordon at one foot from the surface 
is to prevent the frnit getting soiled by earthy splash- 
ings. By having something planted underneath which 
would prevent this^ we might bring the cordon lower down ; 
but, though I have thought of several things likely to do 
this^ none of them are very satisfactory. Doubtless, however, 
we shall yet find something that may be cultivated with pro- 
fit immediately under the cordon so as to prevent splashings, 
and thus be able to bring it within six inches of the earth. 
In gardens where it would not be suitable as an edging, 
the best way would be to plant it ten inches within the 
Box or whatever kind of edging was employed. In plant- 
ing, keep the union of stock and scion just above the 
surface of the ground, to prevent the Apple grafted on the 



Fig. 146. 




Reinette du Canada trained as a Cordon. 



Paradise from emitting its own roots, and consequently 
becoming useless for such a mode of training. The trees 
should never be fixed down to wire or wall immediately after 
being planted ; but allowed to grow erect during the winter 
months, and until the sap is moving in them, when they 
may be tied down. Some allow them to grow erect a year 
in position before tying them down. They should in 
all cases be allowed to settle well into the ground 
before being tied to anything. For general plantings, the 
best and cheapest kinds of plants to get are those known as 
" maidens/^ i.e., erect growing trees about a year from the 
bud or graft. These can be readily trained down to the 
wire, or to the wall, in spring. In training the young tree, 
the point with its young growing shoot of the current year 



THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 341 



should always be allowed to grow somewhat erect^ so that the 
sap will flow equably through the plant,, drawn on by the 
rising shoot at its end. To allow gross shoots to rise at any 
other parts of the tree is to spoil all prospect of success. 
If the tree does not break regularly into buds^ it must 
be forced to improve by making incisions before dormant 
eyes. 

A chief point is not to pinch too closely or too soon. 
The first stopping of the year is the most important one^, 
and the first shoots should not be pinched in too soon ; 
but when the wood at their base is a little firm^ so that the 



Fig. 147. 




Edging of Simple Cordons three years old in French fruit garden. 

lower eyes at the bases of the leaves may not break soon after 
the operation. Stop the shoot at five or six leaves^ as the 
object is not to have a mere stick for the cordon^ but a dense 
bushy array of fruit spurs quite a foot or more in diameter, 
when the leaves are on in summer. All the after pinching 
of the year maybe shorter, and as the object is to regularly 
furnish the line, the observant trainer will vary his tactics 
to secure that end — in one place he will have to repress 
vigour, in another encourage it. About three general 
stoppings during the summer will suf&ce, but at all times 
when a strong soft " water shoot'^ shows itself well above 
the mass of fruitful ones, it should be pinched in, though 



342 THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 



not too closely. I have even in nurseries seen things called 
cordons" with every shoot allowed to rise up like a willow 
wand — ^utterly neglected and on the wrong stock; and I 
have in other cases seen them so pinched in as to be worth- 
less sticks. Of course success could not be expected under 
the circumstances; and I must caution the reader against 
taking such things as examples of the cordon system^ or 
placing any reliance on the opinions of their producers. 

As the Paradise keeps its roots quite near the surface of 
the ground, spreading an inch or two of half decomposed 
manure over the ground,, or in gardening language mulching 

it^ could not fail 
^^^•i^S- to be beneficial. 

The galvanized 
wire support (No. 
14) is neatest and 
cheapest, and in 
fact, the only one 
that should be used. 

The cordons are 
usually planted too 
<jlose together in 
France. InDecem- 
iDcr last I finished 
an experimental 
plantation of 500 
at six feet apart, 
but anticipate taking every second one up after a year or two. 
When the cordons overtake each other it is common to graft 
them one to another — a very simple operation. If when 
all are united they should grow too strong in rich ground, 
the stem of every second plant may be cut off just beneath the 
wire and the trees will be nourished by the others. When 
the line is well trained and established the wire may be taken 
away altogether ; but it is so very inexpensive that it is 
scarcely worth while removing it. If the plantation be 
made on a slope all the trees should be planted so as to 
grow up the incline. 

Finally, in winter, the trees will be the better for being 




Grafting by approach, to unite the points of Hori- 
zontal Cordons. The apex of each Cordon is cut at 
A, when firmly united to its neighbour. 



THE CORDON SYSTEM OF ERUIT GROWING. 348 



looked over with a view to a little pruning here and 
there ; taking care to thin and regulate the spurs when the 
plantation is thoroughly established_, to cut in objec- 
tionable stumps^ and to 
firmly tie the shoots 
along the wire. These 
should never be tied tight- 
ly,, so as to prevent their 
free expansion ; but they 
may be tied firmly with- 
out incurring any such 
danger. 

As the system is chiefly 
valuable for the production 
of superb dessert fruit, 
only the finest kinds 
should be selected ; but, 
as some apples are of high 
value both for kitchen and ^ 
dessert, some of the finer i 
kitchen apples are included 
in the following list of 
such as will be found 
very suitable : Reinette du 
Canada, Reinette du Ca- 
nada Grise, Reinette 
Grise, Reinette de Caux, 
Reinette d^Espagne, Rei- 
nette tres Tardive, Belle 
Dubois, Pomme d'Api, 
Mela Carla, Calville St. 
Sauveur, Coe's Golden 
Drops, Newtown Pippin, 
Calville Blanc, Northern 
Spy, Melon-Apple, Cox's 

Orange Pippin, Duke of Devonshire, Kerry Pippin, Lodgemore 
Nonpareil, White Nonpareil, American-Mother, Early Harvest, 
Lord Burleigh, Beauty of Kent, Bedfordshire Foundling, Lord 
Suffield, Cox's Pomona, Hawthornden, Tower of Glammis, 




344 THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 



Winter 

rable. 

apples. 



P Q 



2 S 



0^ rH 



8 ? 

3 Q 

52_ CD 



CD 



S o 



Hawthornden, Betty Geeson, and SmalFs Admi- 
Some of the best of the above are valuable keeping 
I have seen the Reinette Grise in fine condition in 
the markets at Eoiien in June_, and 
Reinette tres Tardive is good in 
July. Those who wish to plant 
good early apples might try Eoro- 
vitsky^ and a few of the best early 
kinds; but it is best to devote 
most of our horizontal cordons to 
the growth of the finer,, later^ and 
most valuable fruits. Of the above 
selection the Calville Blanc^ the 
Beinette du Canada^ and Mela 
Carla must be grown on a warm 
wall; Newtown Pippin, The Mo- 
ther. Melon, and several of the 
other later and finer apples will 
also be grateful for the same pro- 
tection. 

As our stock of apples on the 
Paradise are at present chiefly ob- 
tained from France, there seems 
little chance of our securing the 
finer English kinds for a while. 
But more than one of our nursery- 
men have assured me of their in- 
tention to plant and graft this stock 
largely, and I should advise all 
large fruit nurserymen to do so. 
They should be offered as cheaply as 
possible by the hundred, as they 
will be required in greater num- 
bers for planting than any other 
form. Of the kinds of French 
apples that may be had grafted 
on the Paradise abundantly in nurseries all over France the 
following are among the best : — Calville Blanc, Reinette 
du Canada, R. d^Angleterre, R. Grise, R. de Caux, R. tres 



THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING, 345 



Tardive^ U. de Bretagne,, R. d^Espagne^ Pomme d'Api, Belle 
DuboiS; Belle Josephine, Calville St. Sauveiir. Doubtless 
ere long we stall have an abundant stock of the best English 
kinds on the right stock. As a great number of trees are 
required for this mode of planting; as the apple on the 
Paradise occupies but a small space in nurseries compared to 
other trees_, and as it is very likely there will before long be 
a large trade in this form of tree, it is to be hoped that our 
nurserymen will offer suitable kinds at a very low rate by 
the dozen, score, or hundred, as is the case in France. I 
have no hope of the perfect and general success of the system 
till this is done. 

I have recently received the following on the raising 
of the Apple on the Paradise stock in nurseries from 
my friend M. Jean Durand, of the well-known fruit tree 
nurseries at Bourg-la-Eeine, near Paris, and have much 
pleasure in giving it, particularly as it is desirable that our 
nurserymen, and even in some cases private growers, should 
raise it for themselves : — 

If the Apple tree is to be grown in the form of the 
horizontal cordon, it must be grafted on the variety known 
to horticulturists as the Paradise. This variety, which 
loves a fresh, damp, clayey soil, cannot be grown from 
seed, but must be propagated by means of layers or cuttings, 
which are obtained in the following manner : — Having 
chosen soil of the proper description, it must be well dug 
and manured. Trenches, six inches deep and a yard apart, 
are then opened, and the stocks, which have been procured 
previously, planted in them. They should be pruned down 
to twelve or fourteen inches in height, and placed in the 
trenches at a distance of four inches apart, and in such a 
way that about six inches of the top appears above the 
ground. The trenches are then filled in and the ground 
levelled. 

In the following spring, as soon as there is no longer 
any danger from frost, the stocks are cut down level with 
the ground. The object of this operation is to develope 
a number of shoots : these are earthed up about June or July 
by covering them with a small quantity of earth taken from 



346 THE CORDON SYSTEM OF ERUIT GROWING. 



the trencli on each side of the line of plants^ so as to cover 
their bases to the depth of four inches or so. 

In the following November these buds will have taken 
root_, the plants from which they take their origin will con- 
sequently be alluded to in future as old stools^ and will 
give every year a certain number of young plants. 

" Every year during the month of November the young 
plants should be stripped from these old stools. It is neces- 
sary above all during the first year to use a strong secateur 
for taking them ofi" in order not to injure the stools ; later 
on they may be simply broken off. Immediately after this 
operation the wounds left in the trees should be covered 
over with earth. They will perform the same service for 
a great length of time — from five to ten years, according 
to the care taken of them — and the young plants thus ob- 
tained will serve for grafting in the nursery. 

For this purpose the ground which is destined to 
receive them should be well dug and then divided in lines 
distant from each other two feet or two feet six inches. 
The operation of planting in beds requires great care. The 
young plants should be well trimmed both at top and 
bottom, so as to give the branches a uniform length of 
sixteen inches. They should then be planted sixteen or 
twenty inches apart and three or four inches deep, and the 
ground hoed frequently until the month of August^ so as to 
destroy the weeds and break up the ground. At this period 
the young plants are ready for budding, each subject re- 
ceiving a bud at about four inches above the surface of the 
ground. Immediately afterwards, particularly in dry years, 
it will be well to give them a good hoeing to prevent the 
ground from caking together, and to preserve it in properly 
moist condition. 

" During the winter the young plants that have been 
budded should be stripped of all the shoots that have grown 
on them to within a height of three inches above the bud, 
and the plant itself should be pruned down to this height. 
The following spring a certain number of small shoots will 
make their appearance all over the pruned plant. When 
they have reached a length of an inch or an inch and a 



THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 347 



half, they should be pinclied down to favour the growth of 
the graft which will have grown as large as the other buds. 
The bud which has not been pinched will naturally soon 
surpass in size those which have been. From this time 
it will attain sufficient strength to absorb the sap^ and 
it will be necessary to destroy all useless shoots. This little 
pruning operation requires considerable caution_, and is per- 
formed by the aid of the knife. Care should be taken not 
to confound the graft with the other shoots on the plant. 
The stem of the stock above the bud being thus deprived of 
its shoots, serves as a stake to which to tie the young growing 
scion. Tied thus loosely, it is preserved from accident during 
its growth. This natural stake having served its purpose is 
cut away at the end of the year, and the graft having at- 
tained its proper size is ready for sale as the scion or graft 
of one year, and may be trained into any form the grower 
may think desirable. 

The Apple thus grafted on the Paradise is, as is well 
known, a great success throughout all parts of France and 
the adjoining countries. In proportion to the space it 
occupies, it furnishes a great quantity of the finest fruit. 
It is not rare to count seventy or eighty apples upon a 
little tree whose arms together are not more than seven feet 
long. This form is due to M. J. L. Jamin, of Bourg-la- 
Reine. This nurseryman used to sell dwarf fruit trees of all 
kinds in pots in the Paris market, and amongst them the 
now well known cordon. The form was much appreciated 
and promptly spread abroad, and after having had some 
success at a horticultural exhibition held at the Louvre, it 
was definitely adopted in kitchen and fruit gardens under 
the name of the cordon horizontale. 

"To establish the growth of cordons in the nursery a 
line of galvanized iron wire is stretched along the ground 
at fourteen inches from the surface, and firmly fixed at 
each end. The young trees are then cut down nearly to 
the level of the wire, and when they start in spring two 
opposite buds are chosen for the formation of the two arms, 
and allowed to grow during the summer, the buds on the 
stem below these being pinched within an inch or so of 



348 THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 



their base. During the snmmer the two shoots ought to 
form a strong cordon fit for sale in the following winter. 
The simple cordon with one branch is formed in the same 
manner,, except that one bud only is allowed to gi^ow. There 
are many other methods of procuring these forms^ but I 
like the one above indicated better than that of bending 
the shoot directly to the wire either in the first year of 
plantation or the second year^ as recommended by some 
professors/'' 

Since the discussion which took place in the Times 
and the gardening journals concerning the merits of this 
mode of apple-growings and since the first part of this 
chapter was written^ I have seen miles of cordons on the 
Paradise in many parts of France and in Switzerland^ and 
sought everywhere to ascertain its merits and defects ; and 
the result is that I am more than ever satisfied of its great 
value. Before stating my reasons^ let us first devote a few 
minutes to the more important objections to the system. 
I have been active in proclaiming its merits. It should be 
equally well known that some of the most distinguished 
horticulturists in the country have condemned it. Some 
have considered that a late frosty season would be fatal to 
low cordons^ and that our climate is too conducive to the 
growth of gross wood, whereas on the Continent it becomes 
ripe and stubby, and the trees may be preserved within 
bounds. If such were the fact, this objectionable tendency 
should be more developed in the warm parts of north- 
western France near the sea coast ; but this is not the case. 
Grafted on the true French Paradise stock, the tree is 
always good, and keeps perfectly within bounds in parts of 
France and Belgium as cold as southern England. In a 
note from Professor Morren, of Liege, he says : " The cul- 
ture of the Apple as a cordon on the Paradise stock has 
been extensively tried in this country, and is rapidly ex- 
tending, particularly near Liege, Yerviers, Huy, Namur, 
and in all the Flemish districts. Hedges of horizontal cor- 
don Apples and of Pears are now formed along the sides 
of the railway between Brussels and Louvain. These plan- 
tations were made two years agOj and have proved very 



THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 349 



successful. The fruits attain a considerable size^ and the 
experiment promises so well that preparations are being 
made to greatly extend it.^^ Is there magic in the air^ that 
there should be so much difference in the behaviour of trees 
separated by a few miles of sea? In many continental 
districts where frosts are quite as severe as here^ the 
cordons escape yearly without injury ; and besides^ no 
form of tree is so easily protected in springs it being so 
very low. 

One distinguished horticulturist attacked the system by 
declaring that he had tried it alongside of grass walks ; that 
the shoots grew as big as broom-handles^ and the slugs ate 
any fruit that happened to occur in such unlikely covert — 
one can hardly call it fruit wood. But in this case the error is 
clear. He planted a Crab or a Doucin stock, which grew 
too much, and which it is perfect folly to plant in the 
hope of having a satisfactory result as a horizontal cordon. 
The shoots from trees grafted on the Paradise stock never 
grow as above described, and may be kept within bounds 
with very ordinary attention. 

In addition to the objections above stated, some are good 
enough to observe that the cordons may, under certain 
circumstances, be desirable for amateurs, but that prac- 
tically they are to be regarded as toys. If, as I believe, 
they will supplant our present mode of cultivating the 
Apple as a standard, half- standard, pyramid and bush 
tree, they will prove toys only in the sense in which a 
guinea is a toy compared with a penny piece. I have urged 
the advantages of imj)roved orchard culture so much that it 
is needless to renew my commendation of it here ; what I ad- 
mire in the horizontal cordon is that it is the simplest 
mode of doing away with the gouty old Apple trees which 
now in multitudes of cases shade our gardens and haunt 
them with ugliness. Moreover, as people rarely let them have 
their own way as when grown in orchards, they form a last- 
ing puzzle to the pruner, who, in cutting them in annually, 
merely makes them uglier, more vigorous, and less useful. 

As to my reasons for being more than ever convinced 
of the merits of the system I advocate, after hearing 



350 THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 



all arguments against it^, and travelling many hundreds of 
miles to have full opportunities of studying it, I would urge : — 
1. The fruit is larger and finer than that borne on any 
large form of tree. — 2. The tree comes into bearing much 
earlier — in fact, often bears freely the second summer after 
being grafted. — 3. The growth is dwarfer and much more 
compact than that of the apple on any other stock, and the 
tree may, without root pruning, be kept in a more com- 
pact and fruitful form than Apples on the Crab may be 
with that troublesome attention. — 4. The fruit being held 
at an average of one foot from the ground it is in conse- 
quence benefited by a greater degree of heat ; and from 
the compactness of the form the leaves and wood enjoy 
a greater amount of sun than is the case with high trees: 
it need not be said that these are great advantages. — 5. The 
tree being confined to a single stem, and stubby fruit- spurs 
held near the surface of the ground, there is in consequence 
no injury to the fruit from wind or the swaying about of 
branches ; besides, the fruit, if it does fall, is not injured. — 

6. The trees may be more readily protected than any other 
form whatever, should protection be considered necessary. — 

7. They may be more easily attended to in pinching, pruning, 
and thinning the fruit, and the desired shape attained more 
readily than any other form of trained tree. — 8. Being little 
taller than a neglected Box edging, they shade no garden 
crop. — 9. They take up but little space, and the positions best 
suited to them are those that hitherto have been made 
little or no use of. — 10. They will enable us entirely to do 
away with the ugly and gouty old Apple trees now so 
common in gardens. — 11. The apple on the French Paradise 
grows to its highest perfection on stilf loamy and clayey 
and wet soils, those which are often most inimical to fruit 
culture in these islands. — 12. By planting it against low 
walls we may grow for ourselves the fine winter apples now 
supplied to the capitals of Europe from northern France 
and from America. 

The reader, knowing my views on this system — knowing 
perhaps the contemptuous opinions which many persons hold 
of the cordon in England, and understanding that it is highly 



THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 351 



appreciated by the best judges on tbe Continent^ may like 
to learn how its merits are appreciated by one or two 
English horticulturists who have had some opportunity of 
examining its worth. The first opinion quoted is that of 
one of the most able and experienced horticulturists in 
England : — 

" As Mr. Robinson's writinsrs induced me to see for myself the horizontal 
cordons on the true Paradise stock, my opinion may be as useful on this question 
as that of some who have never seen them at all, or have not got beyond the 
erroneous idea that they are espaliers with one branch, being ignorant of, or 
ignoring the fact, that the stock is entirely different. I have seen a good many 
espaliers in my time, but never one that bore a crop like those little cordons that 
I saw at Ferriei'es, Versailles, and amongst the French fruit growers. The 
espalier on the Crab stock, no matter how big and ugly was the trellis you put 
it upon, was always with difficulty kept within bounds, always pushing its vigour 
to the top branch, whereas the little trees I saw in France growing on very stiff 
moist loams, were in the stubbiest and neatest condition that could be desired ; 
and everywhere I was told that they were scarcely any trouble, a little pinching 
now and then, and some attention to see that the spurs were equally distributed 
along the line, being all that was required. Why, the trouble is worth incurring 
for the sake of having such a pretty garniture to our walks in spring and autumn, 
even if the great Apples were of wood, and not of the finest flavour. The pinch- 
ing and training would be pleasant employment for ladies and young folks, in 
their few hours' garden rambles, affording both profitable and amusing exercise. 
So many tortured forms of trees have been presented to the public that I do not 
wonder at those rejecting them who cannot see the undeniable merits w'hich have 
been claimed for these cordons ; but when once they are seen well done, and in 
working order (we cannot expect they will be in England for a year or two), 
everybody interested in a garden will be charmed with them, and the plan will, 
I venture to say, be adopted in the largest as well as the smallest gardens in the 
land. Every operation connected with the culture of these trees will be agree- 
able in consequence of its simplicity ; and it will be a pleasure to have the little 
trees under the eye, from the unfolding of the rosy buds in spring to the gather- 
ing of the fine fruit in autumn. It is to me very surprising that none of our 
great fruit growers, pomologists, and others, who are, I believe, in the habit of 
travelling in France every year, and some of them for the past thirty years, did 
not spy out and introduce this system long ago, and more surprising still, that it 
is but recently that we have learned from Mr. Robinson the real value and nature 
of the stock (others who have mentioned it have always recommended the Doucin 
or English Paradise), and no doubt but for his exposition of the matter, we might 
have gone on for many years without knowing anything of value about it, as we 
have already lived without such knowledge fur many years, notwithstanding the 
proximity of the fruit gardens of northern France and southern England, and the 
abundant intercourse between the two countries. We have brick and tile 
edgings in all sorts of fancy forms, pebble, stone, slate, and wooden edgings, 
also Grass, Box, Thrift, and many other living edgings; but when once fairly 
understood, the little edging of choice Apple trees will prove the most popular, 
profitable, and useful of them all for the fruit or kitchen garden. Apart from 
edgings, the plan of planting the cordon on the ends, fronts, and low walls of 
plant-pits, and glass houses, low walls and fences, small vacancies or spaces 
between fruit trees on walls of any aspect — indeed, on any kind of blank space 
on walls — is another distinct improvement ; and, when we have it in full operation, 
the specimens of the finer and tenderer fruits grown on this method will be such 
as we have not yet had the pleasure of producing in this country." — Mr. James 
Baenes, of Bicton, in the Gardener s Chro7iicle, February 27, 1869. 

The next is that of one who has had excellent oppor- 



L 



352 THE COUDON SYSTEM OF ERUIT GROWING, 



tunities of studying fruit culture in the country round 
Geneva. 

" M. Vaucher, the President of our Horticultural Society, began frait growing 
at Chatellaine, a mile from Geneva, three years a'^o. Knowing that he had made 
large plantations of the horizontal cordons, I paid him a visit early in July with 
a view of ascertaining their condition. The plantation is not more than three 
years old; the garden having been a grass field three years ago. In entering the 
garden the first things that catch the eye are the very neat lines of these little 
trees running around the borders, and at about one foot from the margin of the 
gravel walk. The space between the cordons and gravel is planted with the 
finer kinds of Strawberries. The borders margining each square are cut off 
from the body of the square by alleys, and these are also edged by cordons in 
the same way. In most cases two lines of cordons are employed, one above the 
other, — the fruit of the lower line sometimes coming within three and four inches 
of the ground. The efiect of the whole is neat, and such as would make a 
tasteful gardener use them for edgings, even if the result they yield be ever so 
problematical. But as regards the Apple, with ordinary care there is nothing 
problematical about it, for the most dense crops already adorn these beautiful 
little trees. Here are my notes and measurements of a few of them : — Calville 
d'Hiver, eighteen inches from the ground, seven feet six inches long, thirty-seven 
fine promising fruit ; the same kind, seven feet long, seven inches from the ground, 
twenty-four fine fruit ; Pepin d'Angleterre, six feet long, the fruit fifty-seven in 
number, hanging at an average of fifteen inches from the ground ; Eeinette 
d'Espagne, three feet six inches long, twenty-four fruit ; the Lady Apple, six 
feet long, 110 fruit. These were some of the best examples I saw ; and I need 
not remind your readers that the fruit, instead of being too thin, is much too 
thick. I may safely say that if properly thinned as fine fruit as ever grew will 
be gathered from these young cordons — so neat to look at, and at the same time 
such a luxury and profit. I particularly observed that the fruits on the lower 
line of wire, at an average of about six inches from the ground, were quite as 
good and fertile as those on the upper wire, at an average height of about 
eighteen inches — although, perhaps, at some disadvantage from being exactly 
under the higher line. To the above I may add, that there are many gardens 
about Geneva in which these cordons on the Paradise are a perfect success, that 
they give little trouble to the gardeners, who are always fond of them, be the 
gardens or the ' help ' large or small." — J. A. Watsox, Chateau Lammermoor, 
Geneva, Switzerland, in a letter to the Gardener's Chronicle. 

It is not merely in the Tvay it is at present practised in 
France or elsewhere that the cordon system is interesting and 
instructive to all taking an interest in the culture of hardy 
fi'uits. To me it seems to offer a means of training trees so 
that we may readily give them that protection in spring, 
the want of which is in nine cases out of ten the cause of 
all our failures in fruit crops. Hitherto the best course to 
pursue with the borders along our fruit walls has always 
been a disputed point : some contending that they ought 
not to be cropped at all; others that salads and small 
vegetables might be grown upon them. 

Let us crop the borders with trees trained on the hori- 
zontal cordon principle as suggested in the accompanying 



THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 353 



Fig. 152. 



figures^ and in this way dispose of the mucL. debated 
question as to what is best to do with the fruit borders. By 
so doing we should collect such a valuable lot of fruit trees 
immediately in fr'ont of each wall as would render it con- 
venient and highly desirable to protect efficiently both walls 
and borders^ and by the same means. The low cordons will 
no more shade the 
wall than a crop Fm. 151. 
of small salading, 
will prevent all 
necessity for dis- 
turbing the border,, 
and will utilize 
every inch of its 
space. Indeedj I 
can conceive of no 
greater improve- 
ment in our fruit 
culture than de- 
voting to fruit 
trees those excel- 
lent sunny borders 
at the foot of our 




Narrow border 
in front of fruit 
wall, with two 
lines of hori- 
zontal cordons, 
protected in 
spring by wide 
temporary cop- 
ing and rough 
canvas. 




Peach wall and border, with five 
lines of cordons, the whole pro- 
tected in spring. 



Fig. 153. 




that usually lie 
fruit walls. By 
this plan we should, it is true, sacrifice 
some of the more suitable spots for 
our early vegetables and salads, but we 
should gain very much more, and the 
change would be in every way conducive 
to the beauty and utility of our gardens. 
When the wall trees are being attended 
to the cordons cannot be forgotten, and 
the whole will be under the eye at a 
glance. 

The Pear may be grown thus, and the Apple to the highest 
degree of perfection ; so much so that I have no doubt what- 
ever that the splendid Apples which may be grown in this 
way would, if put to the market test, more than pay for 
the expense of protecting cordons and wall trees at the 
same time, by means of the plan shown above. Other 

A A 



Double espalier of pears, 
with three lines of cor- 
don apples on each 
side, the whole to be 
protected in spring as 
suggested in the illus- 
tration. 



354 THE CORDON SYSTEM OF FRUIT GROWING. 

fruits will probably be found to submit to tbis mode of 
culture as well as tbese, and all sorts sbould be tried by 
tbose with opportunities for making experiments in fruit cul- 
turej kinds of a fertile and compact habit being selected 
for trial. Should we in time find varieties of our other hardy 
fruits conform as readily to the cordon system as the Apple 
on the Paradise^ this way of covering borders as well as walls 
with fruit trees will prove a gain in the culture of our 
choice hardy fruits^, the importance of which it would be 
difficult to over-estimate. 

Efficiently protect borders and walls from the time of flower- 



Iron support let into stone. 

ing till the fruit is beyond all danger, afterwards expose all to 
the refreshing summer rains_, and then there will be an 
end to all but mere routine work till the protecting season 
comes again. Every hundred feet in length of such well pro- 
tected wall and border would be equivalent to a well- ma- 
naged orchard house ; and how attractive the borders would be 
considered from an ornamental point of view ! The fact of 
the borders being thus covered with fruit trees will make it 
almost imperative to protect the wall and border at the same 
time; and without efficient protection at flowering time^we can 



Fig. 154. 



Fig. 155. 




THE PARADISE, DOUCIN, AND CRAB STOCKS. 355 



hope for but very little success with the finer hardy fruits in 
this country. 

Although the cordon is so simply supported,, it is desirable 
to know the best means of doing so in a permanent and 
ready way. The simplest way of all is to drive a tough 
post in the ground to the required height^ and attach the 
wire to it. The post may be driven in obliquely^ as in 
fig. 154; or erect; as is the custom. An iron support with 
a stay let into a block of rough stone^ as suggested in 
fig. 156; would be as satisfactory as any other, because so 
permanent. The strongest, best, and dearest kind I have 
ever seen was in M. F. Jamin^s garden at Bourg-la-Reine ; 
fig. 155 is a representation of it. The stay is bolted between 
two vertical irons, and the galvanized wire strained be- 
tween them at the top. 

The Paradise, Doucin, and Crab Stocks. — The stock is 
to the cultivated fruit tree as important as the foundation is 
to the bridge ; if we have not the right stock, all is wrong. 
The Paradise stock (the French Paradise stock, it must be re- 
membered — for the term English Paradise"" is a misnomer) 
is the only one that should be used to form the cordon, ex- 
cept on the very poorest and driest of soils. Of quite 
an opposite opinion, Mr. Thomas Rivers, our great au- 
thority on fruit growing, says : — It is exceedingly dwarf 
in its habit, and too tender for this climate, unless in very 
warm and dry soils V But in fact it is as hardy as the 
hardiest tree of the forest, not perishing even if thrown with 
its roots exposed on the surface of the ground, and allowed 
to remain there through a rigorous winter; and the soils 
above all for which it is peculiarly unfitted are those that 
are hot and very dry, while it flourishes with the most satis- 
factory vigour, fertility, and health on rich, moist loams, and 
even bad clays — the very soils which often present the 
greatest amount of difficulty to the British fruit grower. 
As will be readily seen, this is simply a matter for experi- 
ment, and I appeal to the horticulturists of Britain to settle 
the question by direct trial, a thing they can so readily do. 
The " English Paradise recommended by Mr. Rivers for 
this purpose is, according to his own statement, the Doucin 

A A 2 



356 THE PARADISE, DOUCIN, AND CRAB STOCKS. 



— one that as regards vigour is intermediate between tlie 
Crab and the Paradise, well fitted for neat standards, 
pyramids, and large busbes, but growing too vigorously to 
furnish anything but disappointment if planted as a low 
cordon, except on very light calcareous or " burning^'' soils. 
To plant the Apple on the common or Crab stock, and 
expect to form a dwarf fertile tree, is simply folly. By 
mutilation and removals you may secure a crop, and keep 
the Doucin or " English Paradise^'' within bounds ; but what 
we want is a stock that will furnish a dwarf and fertile 
growth, without any root-pruning or attention whatever, 
beyond that of pinching in the shoots two or three times in 
summer, according to their luxuriance. This we have exactly 
in the Paradise stock, grown by millions in the nurseries 
around Paris, and in many other parts of France. 

We have next to determine what is this Paradise stock. 
It need scarcely be said that a plant Hke this, which exerts 
so marked an influence on the trees grafted on it, and is so 
truly valuable for our gardens, deserves to be at least as 
well known as any one kind of fruit, however good. Yet 
this is so far from being the case that but very little is 
known about it. To most of the French botanists its origin 
is involved in obscurity. I failed to find perfect fruit or 
flowers in any garden in the neighbourhood of Paris or 
London, but have had some young trees of the Paradise 
and Doucin planted with a view of allowing them to fruit. 

As regards the origin of the trees, apparently the clearest 
account is that of Professor Koch of Berlin, who has paid 
a great deal of attention to the origin of all our fruit trees. 
He says : — The name Mains paradisiaca appears to have 
been first used by Buellius in the year 1537. It is a native 
of South-Eastern Russia, Caucasus, Tartary, and the Altai 
Mountains. I have often seen this shrub in the Caucasus, 
and near the Don and the Volga, where it forms shrubs and 
dwarf trees, frequently accompanied with suckers.''^ 

Without attempting to throw any light on the origin of the 
Paradise, M. Carriere of the Jardin des Plantes has studied 
its characteristics, compared them with those of the Doucin, 
and described both in the Flore des Serres : — 



THE PARADISE, DOUCIN, AND CRAB STOCKS. 357 



Paradise. 

"Eootsmucliramifiedandtidy, short, 
remaining near the surface, and never 
tap-rooted. Shrub, bush-like, much 
branched, the branchlets rather long, 
and ^rith a lateral tendency, the adults 
covered with a smooth bark of a reddish 
colour ; lightly pubescent in the case 
ofthe young shoots. Leaves lanceolate, 
elliptical, of a light green above and 
velvety beneath, finely denticulated, 
acuminate at the ends, but principally 
at the base. Petiole broadish and 
channelled. Calyx, with divisions 
acuminated and recurved, often con- 
torted, as long as the peduncle. Petals 
straightly elongated at the base, faintly 
keeled, borne on a thin base, prolonged 
into a sort of keel. Ovary on a slender 
base, pubescent. Fruit higher than 
broad, lightly ribbed, skin white, flesh 
sweetish, almost insipid ; ripening in 
July." It flowers more abundantly, 
and eight days earlier, than the Doucin. 



DouciN-. 

" Roots rather long and strong, tap- 
rooted. Tree not much ramified, 
straight in its growth, with branch- 
lets short, large, in adult specimens 
covered with a deep dull brown bark ; 
very tomentose, and whitened in the 
case of the young shoots. Leaves 
broadly oval or nearly oboval, lightly 
blistered, shining on the upper and 
pubescent on the lower surface, rather 
broadly denticulated, scarcely acumi- 
nate at the apex, abruptly contracted 
and round at the base. Petiole broad, 
scarcely channelled. Calyx with divi- 
sions usually horizontal, occasionally 
recurved, rather large. Petals sub- 
oval, nearly blistered, keeled, borne on 
a base short and rather broad. Ovary 
on a stout support, covered with a to- 
mentose down, white and thick. Fruit 
depressed, broader than high, not 
ribbed, the skin of an intense green, 
marked here and there with brownish 
spots : fiesh of a high and agreeable 
flavour; ripening in August." 



The Paradise stock has been known in France for between 
200 and 300 years. The Doucin wonld appear to be not 
quite so ancient^ but has been known for at least 160 years. 
It is used to form neat low trees,, pyramids^ wall^, espalier^ 
and even standard trees less vigorous and more suitable for 
gardens than those grafted on the Crab^ or commonest 
stock; and occasionally for cordons on bad and very 
poor and dry soils. It is most probably a vigorous and 
deep-rooting variety of the same species as the Paradise^ 
healthy everywhere^ and succeeding well on some very dry 
and poor soils, where in consequence of its habit of surface 
rooting the Paradise would suffer and prove useless. Apples 
grafted upon it come into bearing earlier than upon the 
Crab, and it is admirable for all forms of garden trees 
in size intermediate between the very dwarf cordons and 
bushes, and the tall and vigorous orchard trees. 

The Crab stock it is needless to describe. It is the 
stock on which our Apples have been grafted for ages, and 
which is the only one employed in the majority of British 
gardens. It is the natural stock for the Apple, and that 
on which it grows with greatest vigour; but it takes a 



358 THE PARADISE, DOUCIN, AND CRAB STOCKS. 



mucli longer time to come into bearings and the attempts to 
keep it of a size suited to gardens by pruning^ pinching, 
and root-pruning which may be seen everywhere^ are all 
efforts thrown away. 

Thus it will be seen there are three distinct stocks_, each 
suiting distinct purposes,, and that those who experiment 
upon or criticise the cordon system of Apple growing with- 
out acting upon or bearing these facts in mind as the 
greatest and most important of all in connexion with the 
subject, may be likened to an individual attempting to study 
the moon by gazing through the wrong end of his telescope. 

Of these three stocks, the one which has been most 
abused and least known, but which will yet prove the most 
valuable of all as a garden stock for the Apple, is the true 
French Paradise. When it is fairly tried it will prove to 
be of all stocks yet known the hardiest, most dwarfing 
in its effects, and most powerful in inducing early fertility. 
This stock, which has hitherto been characterized in Eng- 
land as a thing quite worthless and contemptible — only fit 
for growing in pots, and such toy gardening — will, if planted 
in the coldest and wettest of soils, instead of sending long 
and hungry roots down into the sour bowels of the cold 
clayey earth, like the Crab, and in a lesser degree the Doucin, 
keep its wig-like mass of small roots near the surface, and 
without root-pruning bear fruit long before the others, even 
if they receive every attention. The above is the way to 
best test its powers of withstanding cold, and the other 
merits I claim for it : on all ordinarily rich and cool soils it 
will be found to succeed perfectly without root-pruning of 
any kind. Amateurs and gardeners throughout the length 
and breadth of these islands have only to try it to prove 
that instead of sickening and dying in our cool climate, and 
on our moist soils, its general adoption will lead to one of 
the greatest improvements our garden fruit culture has ever 
undergone. It is necessary to observe that in trying this stock 
healthy plants should be secured to begin with. It has been 
ascertained that some of our nurserymen who have tried this 
stock import the Paradise from France in a very small state, 
and then graft it soon after it arrives. The consequence is 



THE PEAR AS A CORDON. 



859 



Fig. 157. 



tliat tlie little trees liave no power to push forth a healthy 
graft. If imported in this way they should be allowed one 
year''s growth before being grafted. 

The Pear as a Cordon. — Having said so much about 
the Apple as a cordon, we will next turn to the Pear trained 
as an oblique cordon on walls. It does not, 
as applied to this fruit, offer a distinct and 
economical way of producing a better class of 
fruit, as in the case of the Apple. Its ad- 
vantages are simply quick growth, early fer- 
tility, and a considerable number of varieties 
from a limited space. Figure 162 will fully 
show the appearance of a wall covered with 
Pears on the cordon system. The plants at 
each end, which display a fuller develop- 
ment, show the means by which the ends of 
the wall are covered. As will be seen, the 
trees are placed very close together, which 
makes the plantation costly. They, however, 
soon run up to the top of the wall, and yield 
a quicker return than the larger forms. 
Then if one fails it is easily replaced. But 
are these advantages sufficient to justify us 
in adopting this system to any extent for 
our wall Pears ? 

We may secure handsomer trees, less dis- 
tortion, longer life, and more fruit, by adopt- 
ing such simple and easily conducted forms 
as those figured in the account of the Im- 
perial garden at Versailles, and other 
medium-sized and simple forms. Those 
forms are handsomer than the wall or espa- 
lier cordon for the Pear, yield a great number 
of kinds from a comparatively small space, 
and moreover, allow of a somewhat free and natural develop- 
ment. We all know how comparatively few are the varieties 
of first-class Pears which succeed to perfection in any one 
place, and that the necessity of planting a new kind at every 
eighteen inches along the wall does not exist. For the 




Pear Tree trained 
as a Vertical Cor- 
don. This form 
is best suited for 
very high walls, 
&c. 



360 



THE PEAR AS A CORDON. 



fruiting of seedlings and testing of new kinds, it is however 
a good plan, and if the object be to cover a wall in a short 
time and get a qnick return, it is certainly the best way. 
In this case it enables us to attain our ends in the shortest 
space of time, and with the least possible waste of space. 

Some of the leading teachers of fruit culture in France 
adopt the oblique cordon as the surest way of getting a 
quick return, and plant extensively the finest varieties trained 

Fig. 158. Fig. 159. 



The Pear as a Simple Oblique Cordon. Oblique Cordon Pear. 2iid year. 
1st year. Showing the first pruning 
after planting, 

in this way ; but others ridicule the planting of trees as closely 
as one would coleworts, and laugh at the system as only 
profitable for the nurseryman. My opinion is that for the 
finest kinds of winter pears and high walls it is well worth 
adopting, provided the trees can be got at a low price. To 
plant high priced trees so thickly would be ruinous. It 
would be better to wait for years and allow the larger forms 
to cover the walls in their old-fashioned way. But where 
the cultivator can graft and raise his own trees, or procure 



THE PEAR AS A CORDON. 



361 



first-rate kinds cheaply as maiden/^ or very young plants, 
then lie will probably find the system an improvement. 
None but the very best kinds should be planted, and to 
begin with, it would be desirable to plant a goodly number 
of one kind known to succeed well in the neighbourhood 

Fig. 160. 




Obliq[ue Cordon Pear. 3rd year. B is the position which the tree will 
eventually occupy. 

rather than a variety of sorts. The kinds known to do best 
in this contracted form are "^Beurre Superfin, Flemish 
Beauty, Beurre Gifi'ard, ^Louise Bonne of Jersey, *Marie 
Louise, Beurre Clairgeau, Duchesse d^Angouleme, "^Easter 
Beurre, and Beurre d*Anjou. Of these a beginner would do 
well to take those marked with an asterisk. As regards the 



362 THE PEAR AS A CORDON. 

training of tlie Pear in tliis way^ it is too simple to require 
description here. The tree is simply treated as we treat a 
single branch of a fan-shaped tree^ and requires none of 
the careful pruning necessary to form the more elaborate 
shapes. Healthy young plants, a year from the graft, are 
chosen, planted at from 16 to 18 inches apart, and 
pruned as explained in the accompanying figures. 



Fig. 161. 




Oblique Cordon Pear. 4tli year. 



Sometimes the Pear is trained as a vertical single or double 
cordon. Of the two forms the single is preferable, and it is 
chiefly suited for very high walls, the gable ends of out- 
houses, and the like. It need scarcely be added that the 
trees should be on the Quince stock. 

The Pear may also be trained as a horizontal cordon on 
low walls, the fronts of glass houses, and as an edging like 
the Apple. But generally the Pear pushes too vigorously 



THE PEAR AS A COUDON. 363 

to be trained in tMs way, wMle tlie pendulous liabit of the 
fruit renders it more liable to be soiled. I once saw Uvedale's 




St. Germain grown in this way_, the great fruit sitting on 
tlie ground, and quite encrusted with earthy splasbings. 
I have frequently seen plantations of the Pear as a hori- 



364 



THE PEAR AS A CORDON. 



zontal cordon^ but never one that I could call thorougUy 
satisfactory. The disposition to form a neat compact line 
of spurs so abundantly manifested by the Apple when well 

Fig. 163. 



4 



1 




k 



% f % ^> t 

51 4^ 4 f 4 

% ^r, 

if % ? 

# f J :^ 

1 . 






i % J? % 

4 f 4? i 



Pear Tree trained in U form. This lias no special merits, and is only useful 
for very high walls. 

trained on the Paradise is very rarely shown by the Pear. 
Nevertheless a few varieties^ such as Louise Bonne and 
Beurre Giffard^ might be tried ; allowing them to attain 
a greater length of stem than the cordon Apples_, and placing 



THE PEAR AS A CORDON. 



365 



them a little higher from the ground. As regards the Pear 
as a horizontal cordon^ Mr. Watson of Geneva wrote as 
follows to the Gardener's Chronicle : — I question if there 
exists elsewhere a more extensive collection of Pears trained 
on the horizontal cordon system than may now be seen in M. 
Vaucher^s garden near Geneva. There are hundreds of them, 
consisting of every good sort that M. Vaucher could buy. 

Fig. 164. 



I-'*' y J 

1 y' / 


1 
1 

1 








y 

1 

1 




1 1 

1 




1 / ; / ; 1 i 

! /' /'' ^ S 


1 
1 


^ IT 


1 

1 \ 




I / 

! / 
1/ 





The Spiral Cordon against walls. This form is not to be recommended. 

After carefully examining them, I came to the conclusion 
that Mr. Eobinson^s conclusions are right — namely, that the 
Pear as a rule does not conform to this mode of culture like 
the Apple, and can report no such success. Still some sorts 
are all that could be desired. Beurre Noirchain, four 
feet six inches long, had twenty-three fruit ; Beurre Giffard, 
six feet six inches long, twenty-two fruit. The fruit of the last- 
named kind are hanging about four inches from the ground.'''' 



366 



THE PEACH AS A CORDON. 



Fig. 165. 





Of tlie various modifications of the cordon system the 
spiral cordon deserves note. The merit 
claimed for it is that a greater length of 
stem is secured^ and consequently that the 
tree is not so likely to suffer from being 
confined to a single stem. Trained as 
shown by Fig. 165, it is pretty, but against 
walls it has not even that merit. The 
isolated spiral cordon may be trained on a 
galvanized iron support like that shown in 
the illustration, or round a circle of stakes 
inserted in the ground. The first way is 
certainly the neatest and the best. It is 
quite easy to train trees round this spiral 
support, which seems best fitted for adop- 
tion where a thorough system of protec- 
tion is carried out, in consequence of the 
number of trees that may be packed into 
a small space. It also seems worthy of 
attention for orchard house and pot culture. 

The Peach as a Cordon. — With the 
Peach as an oblique cordon, a good result 
is attained, the wall being covered very 
rapidly ; and the neat laying in of a great number of shoots 
on each side of the simple stem does away with the 
crowded and unnatural appearance which a plantation of 
cordon pears assumes when old and the stems are thickened. 
But instead of the wood being closely pinched in, as people 
might suppose in England from reading of the method of one 
M. Grin, it is nailed in at each side of the branch, ay, 
more so than if that branch were part and parcel of one of 
the older and larger forms of tree. I once saw an excellent 
result afforded by this system against the high back wall of 
a vinery in the establishment of M. Rose-Charmeux, at 
Thomery. Py its means he perfectly covered his wall in a 
short time, and gathered a great variety of fruit from a 
small space. Out of doors I have seen it afford beautiful 
results, and that not unfile quently. It is well calculated for 
high walls, and it may be adopted for low ones by training 
the trees at a more acute angle with the earth. 



The Spiral Cordon. 



THE PEACH AS A CORDON. 



367 



Considering tlie time usually required to furnisli walls in 
the ordinary way^ there can be little doubt that this mode 
of training the Peach is a real improvement^ where a con- 
siderable number of varieties are required from a small 
space. Apart from that^ however^ the facility and simplicity 
with which walls may be covered by this method^ and the 
readiness with which a diseased or otherwise objectionable 
tree may be replaced, will doubtless prove a sufficient recom- 
mendation for cultivators who are not restricted as to space. 

Fig. 166. Fia. 167. 




Young Peach Tree trained as an Ob- 
lique Cordon, 1st year. A shows 
the first pruning. 




Peach Tree trained as an Oblique 
Cordon. 2nd year's pruning. The 
leading shoot is cut at A, and the 
side shoots at the cross-marks. 



It should, however, be borne in mind that on very good 
soils where the Peach grows very vigorously, it will not 
suit so well as on poor ones where it grows slowly, and that 
medium-sized forms may be adopted for the Peach as well 
as for the Pear. The following is a description of the mode 
of forming it after M. Lepere : — ■ 



368 



THE PEACH AS A CORDON. 



" There are two modes of growing this form. One^ which 
was recommended by a professor of arboriculture^ and 
frequently put in practice by many amateurs^ but which 
I consider faulty^ consists in planting the trees just as they 
come from the nursery^ and training them at once in the 
oblique form. The inconvenience arising from this method 
consists in being obliged to place the tree close to the wall, 
which crowds the roots too much^ preventing them from 
affording sufficient nourishment to the tree. Besides this^ 
on account of the inclination of the tree^ part of the roots 
are directed towards the sui-face of the earth or placed in 
an unnatural position^ thereby preventing their full develop- 
ment. By-and-by, the trees that have been planted thus 
are cut to half the length that they were when they came 
from the nursery^ having a number of weak^ useless branches 
on the lower part^ a condition which, as every one knows, 
is always unfavourable. The second method differs from the 
first, inasmuch as the plant from the nursery is cut down 
instead of being planted in an oblique direction. To obtain 
the oblique form without planting the tree in a crooked 
position, the stem is cut at eight inches from the graft, and 
placed in the hole in such a position that the base of the stem 
is four inches from the wall, with its extremity just touching 
it. The roots are well spread over the hole and drawn as 
much as possible towards the border in which the tree is 
planted. Care is taken to leave a well-placed bud on the 
side where the oblique branch is to be formed, and its de- 
velopment must be encom^aged by ruthlessly pinching off 
all useless shoots. Under these conditions, the tree grows 
as long during the first year as the one planted obliquely 
and allowed to be of its full length from the first. This 
method is also to be preferred, because the shoot thus ob- 
tained the first year can be left intact and allowed to attain 
a development equal to that of the tree planted according 
to the first method. Besides this, the shoot is calculated 
to grow faster in consequence of its bark being less har- 
dened, and each year the terminal point may be allowed 
to grow without cutting back. Sometimes the terminal bud 
does not develope owing to its having been killed with the 



SHOUT PINCHING SYSTEM APPLIED TO THE PEACH. 369 



cold. In sucli a case a stronger eye is chosen lower down 
to make the desu^ed prolongation. 

" As in the case of other forms of training, the branches 
of the Peach cordons are allowed to grow in a more erect 
position at first than they are finally intended to occupy. 
I should advise this cordon form to be adopted in the case 
of gardens whose walls are on the incline, as often occurs 
in certain localities, and for soil of inferior quality where 
the Peach tree grows slowly, because under such circum- 
stances it never attains its full development. The plan 
does not answer where the ground is flat and the conditions 
are such as favour the rapid growth of the tree.^^ 

Some fruit growers think that there is no , 
occasion for resorting to this simple cordon in 
the case of the Peach, any more than in the case 
of the Pear. My friend M. F. Jamin, of Bourg- 
la-Reine, plants in his fruit garden a form of 
tree with three vertical branches, and if he wants 
a great variety of fruit from a small space, works 
a diff'erent variety on each branch. This figure 
shows, on a small scale, the appearance of one p | rp 
his young specimens, trained on this principle, with three 
The U and double U forms, described in the Chap- stems,a dif- 

-1 1 -11 1 • lerent va- 

ter on Montreuil, are also extensively adopted m riety being 
preference to the oblique cordon by many f^J^^^ 
growers. 

The short pinching System applied to the Peach. — 
The system generally known among us as that of M. Grin is 
confounded by some writers with the cordon system, from 
which it is entirely distinct. It has not in the least in- 
fluenced the old way of growing the Peach in France, and 
a commission of first-rate fruit growers sent to examine it, 
reported that the system pursued at Montreuil is still much 
the best. It may be shortly described as an attempt to do 
away with nailing by a system of close pinching, and that 
alone is sufficient to condemn it for our gardens, and also 
for those of the French, for the wood to be well ripened 
must be nailed in, and the pinching required to keep the 
shoots from running away from the wall is something pro- 

B B 




370 SHORT PINCHING SYSTEM APPLIED TO THE PEACH. 



Fig. 169. 



digious. As tlie Frencli fruit growers say — the cultivator 
who pursues this method had better provide himself with 
chairS; and place one before each tree to accommodate the 
person who has to see that the pinching is done at the 
proper time ! The report of the commission sent to examine 
this method is as unfavourable to it as anything can be. I 
translated it with a view of giving it here^ but space pre- 
vents my doing so, and therefore I sum up its statements 
in a few words. " This system, which is an attempt to do 
away wdth nailing in of the shoots, presents on the whole 
no advantages over the one in common use, but, on the 
contrary, certain drawbacks. Having read so much about 

the doings of M. Grin, I was asto- 
nished at the very ordinary aspect 
of his trees, and the by no means 
remarkable result attained. The 
individual who pays his penny to 
see the "^blue horse captured in 
the Black Sea by Captain Jones of 
the ship Adventurer — the most ex- 
traordinary monster ever seen/'' 
&c., in the New Cut, and finds the 
blue horse to be a puny young 
seal, could not have been more 
disappointed than was I at the as- 
pect of the trees in this garden. 
For when one reads of a method as 
being about to supplant everything 
else, it is quite natural to expect 
that it must at all events possess 
some merits over the older one ; 
but in this instance such is not the 
case. Of course I speak of this 
mode of pinching as a system. 

It has one merit, however, and 
may be used incidentally with any 
system of summer-pruning. It 
should be remarked that M. Grin 
commenced by simply adopting a method of very short pinch- 




Peach Shoot of the current year 
bearing a number of secon- 
dary shoots — bourgeons an- 
ticipes. 



SHORT PIXCHlTsG SYSTEM APPLIED TO THE PEACH. 371 



ing in of the shoot. He now depends cMeflv on pinching 
the stipulary leaves, as shown at A. This is the hest 
feature of the system, and chiefly in dealing with the httle 
lateral bourgeons anticijjes that sometimes pnsh forth on 
the current year''s wood. By pinching the leaves of these 
little huds just when they push, as shown in the figure, 
the development of the shoot is not interfered with ; but a 
sufficient check is given to cause the eyes near the base to 
fill and become fruit buds, as shown at A, Fig. 171. This 
not done, the young shoot pushes away, and is often quite 
naked of buds at its base. 

To think of adopting the system of Grin in its purity 
would be folly. As to training Peach cordons on this 

Fw. 170. 




Portion of Shoot of Peach Tree, showing the pinching of the 
stipulary leaves. 



principle, it is simply nonsense ; as well might we think of 
repressing the flow of the tide as hope to succeed with 
trees confined to a single stem, and pinched in quite close. 
It is by no means a success even where large forms are 
adopted; but with the cordon there is no outlet. The 
cordons trained after this method in the public garden at 
Chartres must have exhausted the patience of the cultivator, 
for their shoots had started right away from the wall, and 
grown as much as eighteen inches long ! 

This/' said I, will never do for England.'' Kor 

B B 2 



372 SHORT PINCHING SYSTEM APPLIED TO THE PEACH. 



for France added an eminent Parisian fruit grower. The 
only chance of success with the Peach as a cordon is by 
laying in the side shoots regnlarly. Since the aboYC was 
written a report on Grinds method has been presented to 
the Imperial Horticultural Society of France^ and in this 
also a very unfavourable account of the system is given. 
There can be no doubt that as a system of pruning it is 
ridiculously bad. From reading a book on Peach pruning^ 
by the Government reporter on fruit trees at the Paris Ex- 



Fig, 171. 




Eesult of pinching the stipularj leaves. 



hibitiouj which was first published in one of our horticultural 
journals_, it is possible that some people interested in the 
subject may suppose that this system of M. Grin^ so highly 
praised therein^ is extensively practised and adopted instead 
of the old way of laying in the shoots. The interests of 
fruit culture compel me to declare that it is not practised 
by any intelligent French fruit growers. It should by no 
means be confounded with the true cordon system of growing 
the Peach as it has been in the writings above alluded to. 



373 



CHAPTER XVI. 

TRAINING. 

Training is very mucli better understood in France than 
in the British Isles. In France the commonest labourers 
frequently possess a knowledge of pruning and conducting 
a tree, which we might look in vain for anywhere in this 
coimtry ; and by way of illustrating their skill in this way, 
we cannot do better than examine their means of forming 
two of the most popular forms of fruit trees — the Palmette 
Verrier and the Pyramidal Pear trees — chiefly after Du 
Breuil. The Pear will serve to illustrate training and 
pruning as well as any other tree, or better, and the 
principles laid down will apply equally to other fruit trees. 

The Palmette Verrier. — Wherever large wall trees are 
grown, the simple and beautiful form known to the French 
as the Palmette Verrier is sure to obtain a place among 
theme It is indeed the finest of all large forms, and is pre- 
ferred by many of the best French cultivators to any other. 
They use it for other trees besides the Pear ; and by far the 
finest Peach tree I have ever seen was trained after this 
method near Lyons. The English reader may think it im- 
possible to attain such perfect shape as is shown in the ac- 
companying plate, and such perfect equalization of sap as 
it suggests j but I have seen several trees even more beau- 
tifully finished than the one represented. This figure also 
shows the advantages of the kind of support used in 
France for espalier trees as compared with our own ugly 
method of using rough wooden and iron posts and strong 
bolt-like expensive wire. It will be seen that the tree 
difi'ers radically from the usual form of Pear tree that we 
are in the habit of placing against walls, and it is easy to 



374 



THE PALMETTE YERRIER. 



point out its advantages in securing an equal flow of sap to 
all tlie branches. 

In tlie common horizontal form strength and fertility 
are apt to desert the lower branches^ in consequence of 
their not possessing a growing point to draw the sap through^ 
and particularly when constant care is not taken to repress, 
by summer pinching^ the upper portions of the tree. The 
form here figured^ in common with all very large wall and 
espalier trees^ takes a long time to complete. Given a wall 
10 ft. or 12 ft. high, and 20 ft. or 24 ft. long, to be covered 
with a tree of this shape, it would require fifteen or sixteen 
years to form it. By adopting a more contracted form 
based upon the same plan, we may cover the wall or trellis 
more quickly. 

The Palmette Verrier is named after the fruit gardener 
at the Ecole Eegionale de la Saulsaie, with whom it was first 
observed. To form the tree, we have in the first instance 
to plant an ordinary young plant of a desired kind, and of 
course that should be of the pritnest kind, both as to 
quality and constitution, as so much care is about to be 
exercised to make it a handsome and long-lived ornament to 
the garden and valuable aid to the fruit room. In forming 
this as all other trees, the usual and most economical custom 
is to choose plants about a year old from the time of grafting, 
or what are usually called maiden plants,^^ and which when 
planted are cut down to within about a foot of the surface 
of the soil. Three well placed buds are allowed to remain 
and form three shoots. The two side ones go to form the 
lowest and longest branches of this handsome form of tree, 
and at the second pruning the young trees would have 
somewhat the appearance of fig. 172. It is quite easy to 
buy trees a little more advanced to make the same form 
more quickly ; but they will be more expensive the further 
they are advanced beyond what is called the " maiden^^ 
stage. The young trees should be allowed to remain a year 
or so in their positions before being cut, so that they may 
have rooted well. At the first pruning the young tree is 
cut down to within a foot or so of the ground, and just 
above three suitable eyes, one at each side to form the two 



THE PALMETTE TERRIER. 



375 



lowermost brandies, the other a little above them and in 
front to continue the erect axis. Of course all the eyes, 
except those that are to send forth the three first shoots, 
must be suppressed in spring. Now, although the tree in 
the plate looks so very exact and regular in its lines, and 
the branches appear as if they had been " bent in the way 
they should go''' at a very early stage, it is not so ; they are 
at first allowed to grow almost erect, and are afterwards 
gradually lowered to the horizontal position. During the 
first year of the young tree possessing three shoots, care 
must be taken (as at all times) to secure a perfect equilibrium 
between them. If one grows stronger than the others, it 
must be loosened from its position on the wall and lowered. 



Fia. 172. Fig. 173. Fig. 174. 




Second pruning. Third pruning. Fourth pruning 

The Palmette Verrier. 

This will divert the sap so as to strengthen the rest. 
Nothing is more easily conducted than the sap when we pay 
a little attention to it ; if not, it soon rushes towards the 
higher points, and spoils the symmetry of the tree. 

We then, at the second pruning, have to cut them at B, 
and also cut off about a third of the length of the side 
shoots, as at A A, Fig. 172. If one side branch happens 
to be stronger than the other, cut the stronger one some- 
what shorter. In cutting and pruning wall trees the cut 
should be made above a front bud, so that the wound made 
by the knife may be turned towards the wall, and away 
from the eye, from which, of course, it soon will be effec- 
tually hidden by this front bud pushing into a shoot, and 



376 



THE PALMETTE VERRIER. 



thickening at its base. During the second year no more 
branches mnst be permitted to grow, simply because the 
trainer desires to throw all the strength he can into the 
lower branches, which are to be the longest. Sometimes, 
however, the strength of the lower branches will permit the 
second stage of branches to be made during the second year 
of training. At the third pruning the trees will present 
somewhat the appearance of Fig. 173, the central stem 
being cut at six inches or so above the previous incision, 
which is indicated by a slight ring, and a third part of the 
new growth of the side branches cut off, as shown on the 



Fig. 175. 




The Palmette Verrier. Fifth pruning. 



side branches of Fig. 173. Here, again, we cut above and 
inside of three promising eyes to obtain a new set of 
branches, and each succeeding year add another series 
until the tree is formed. Fig. 174 represents the aspect 
of the young tree at the fourth pruning. At the end 
of the following growing season the specimen will have 
grown sufficiently to allow the lower branches to be turned 
up towards the top of the wall, and begin to look shapely. 
Fig. 175 is an exact representation of what it ought to be 
at that stage — A, and the cross marks, indicating where the 
cuttings are to be made. Above all things is it necessary 
to keep the growth and flow of sap equal, not only for the 



THE PALMETTE VERRIER. 



377 



sake of symmetry, but also to insure perfect health and 
fertility ; for if one part be allowed to grow grossly at the 
expense of another, an awkward state of things will soon 
take place. Sometimes, when the vegetation is very 
vigorous, time is gained in the making of this form by 
pinching the central growth at eight inches or so above 
the highest pair of opposite branches. It then breaks 
again, and care is taken to secure two side shoots and one 
erect one. Thus, with care, and in good soil, two stages of 
branches may be secured in the same year, but this must 
not be attempted till the proper formation of the two lower 



Fia. 176. 




Palmette Verrier, with weakly outer branch completed by grafting. 

branches is secured. The dotted lines in Fig. 175 will 
show the positions that have been successively occupied by 
the branch E, when in course of formation, and that it is 
by no means necessary to train a young branch from the 
beginning in the exact position it is required to take. In 
fact, this form is only to be well and easily perfected by 
allowing the young shoots to first grow and gather strength 
in an erect or oblique position. The branch E kept com- 
pany when young with the central branch, and was at B ; 
then it was lowered to C, next year to D, and finally to its 
horizontal position. Some care is required to make the 
bend of the shoots equal and easily rounded. If the tree 



378 PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 



be trained on a wire trellis^ it is best to place two bent rods 
in the exact position necessary^ and before we require the 
shoot to be bent. They must be placed at exactly equal 
distances from the main stem_, and be equal in curvature. 
Then it is an easy matter to gently attach the growing 
shoot to them ; it will soon harden to the desired bend. 
Against a wall it will be easy to direct it with shreds and 
nails ; if the wall be wired the bits of bent twig may be 
applied^ as on the trellis. Like care should be bestowed 
upon the other bends^ as they require to be made ; but of 
course the outer and lower one is of the greatest importance. 
As this form is not at all presentable if the outer branches 
be incomplete^ grafting by aj)proach is sometimes employed 
to repair this defect,, as shown in Fig. 176. 

The reader will observe that^ in the formation of this 
Palmette Verrier^ the custom is not to attempt training the 
young shoot in the position it is finally destined to occupy; 
but^ on the contrary^ to permit it first to grow sometimes in 
an erect^ or at least in an oblique direction^ so that the sap 
may flow upwards without check. Nothing is easier than 
taking down the shoots from time to time^ as they become 
strong and well developed. Now this is a principle almost 
unknown^ and certainly not practised in this country; being 
applicable to many forms of training, I can strongly recom- 
mend it, having frequently witnessed the good eff'ects pro- 
duced by carefully carrying it out. 

Pyramidal Training of the Pear Tree. — This culture 
is, considered from the stand-point of beauty alone, as desir- 
able as any with which amateurs interest themselves. I 
have seen in the gardens of even very humble French ama- 
teurs pyramidal pear trees, which, if they never aflPorded 
a fruit, would be beautiful objects ; and I have met with 
few avenues that afi'orded me more pleasure than a short one 
of pyramidal pear trees leading up through a little town 
garden within the walls of Paris, We will begin, then, 
with the fully formed pyramid, and in addition to its 
symmetry will be observed the straight clean growth 
of each branch, springing at regular intervals from the 
main stem, which is so erect and well furnished. From 



PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 379 



the summit to the base such a tree ought to be garnished 
with nothing but branches 
well set with fruit spurs. 
The greatest breadth of 
the pyramid should equal 
about one-third of its 
height. Pyramidal trees 
may be purchased in all 
stages; but trees ready- 
formed are costly^ and 
as many would prefer 
training their own_, and as 
those who plant on a 
large scale will find it 
economical to begin with 
trees a year from the 
grafts we will commence 
at the beginning with a 
maiden tree/'' letting 
it grow one year in the 
ground before pruning it. 

Fig. 178 represents 
the first pruning of this 
young tree_, and its ap- 
pearance one year after 
being permanently plant- 
ed, or two years from 
. the graft. B shows the 
union of stock and scion ; 
and the terminal bud A 
just below where the 
shoot is cut should be 
placed on the side oppo- 
site to that on which the 
scion was inserted, as 
shown in the figure, so 
that the stem of the 
tree may rest perpendicu- 
larly on its base. It is by attending to such little points 




Pyramidal Pear Tree. 



380 PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 



as this that the French get that perfectly equal distribution 
of sap which is so essential to the satisfactory management 
and prolonged fertility of trained fruit trees. The summer 
following the first pruning, the young trees push with great 
vigour, and their shoots should be thinned when a few 



Fig. 178. 



Fig. 179. 




Pyramidal Pear Tree. 
First pruning. 

inches long, removing every 
shoot from the base of the 
stem to a height of about one 
foot, and thinning out those 
above this point to six, seven, 
or eight shoots ; reserving of 
course the best placed shoots, 
and taking care to have them 
arranged as far as possible at 
regular intervals. Should they 

in the course of the year assume an irregular develop- 
ment, pinching with the finger and thumb must be resorted 
to. This is shown in Fig. 179. The shoots, A A, have 
pushed too much ; and one of them rivals the leading shoot 
B ; they therefore must be pinched, merely taking an inch 
or so ofi*. 




Top of Young Pear Tree. B, the 
leading shoot. A A, shoots re- 
quiring to be pinched. 



PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 381 



In the spring of the following year the 
young trees should present the appearance 
of Fig. 180; the cross marks showing how 
the pruning is to be performed. This second 
pruning has for its object the production of a 
new set of lateral branches, and the further 
development of those already obtained. It is 
evident that to secure a beautiful tree, the 
branches must spring forth regularly from the 
main stem, which they 
are not likely to do 
if the tree is left to 
itself. Fig. 181 shows 
the way in which the 
carefal cultivator fur- 
nishes his stem, as 
regularly as could be 
desired. The eyes 
which he desires to 
break strongly have 
an incision made above 
them, as shown in the 
figure. This is parti- 
cularly desirable as 
regards the lower part 
of each successive 
growth of the erect 
stem; the vigour of 
the rising current of 
sap often pushing towards the higher buds, 
and causing the lower part to be poorly fur- 
nished. These incisions. A, A, A, must be 
carefully performed on the young branch : 
deep enough to penetrate the sap wood, and 
yet not so deep as to hurt the slender rising 
point. The top of this shoot, instead of being 
cut off, has been barked for some portion of 
its length above the bud that has been selected 
to continue the growth of the coming summer. 



Fig. J 81. 




Pyramidal Pear Tree. 
Second pruning. 



Leading shoot 
of Pear Tree, 
showing inci- 
sions A, A, A, 
made above 
the buds re- 
quired to 
break strong- 
ly- 



382 PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 



To this the Yoimg shoot is trained^ and a perfectly vertical 
growth for what we may term the pillar of the tree is thereby 
secured. The bark is neatly cut round above the upper 
eve : the branch is cut off at about four or five inches above 



Fig. 183. 





A, the best position at which to 
prune for the terminal bud. 



Fig. 184, 



A, part of old leading shoot 
barked and left to tie the 
young shoot to. It is cut at 
B when the shoot is arrived 
at maturity. 




A, B, C, incisions made above 
and below branches and buds 
to check their irregularity. 



that pointy and then the bark is taken clean off. When 
the young leading shoot is long enough^ it is fastened to 
the bare portion of stem,, as shown at Fig. 182. The portion 
A is cut off at B at the next winter pruning. This process 
may be prolonged as long as necessary or convenient. 



PYRAMIDAL TUAIXIXG OF THE PEAR TREE. 383 



In pruning tlie tree considerable judgment is required, 
so as to get the base of tbe specimen "well furnished^ and 
secure fertility in the fruiting branches. Fig. 185 shows 
how this is performed, and several of the following figures 
-well explain the principle. It is to cut them of the greatest 
length at the base of the tree, and gradually shorten them 
as we reach the top. The nearer they spring to the soil, 
the longer they must be left, or, to be more precise, only a 
third must be cut from the points of the lowest branches ; 
half the length may be taken from those situated between 
summit and base ; and 
lastly, three quarters may 
be cut from the most 
elevated. In cutting-in 
the lateral branches, the 
directly oblique direction 
which it is desirable they 
should take must be borne 
in mind in the pruning, 
and the terminal bud of 
each left as far as possi- 
ble, as at A in Fig. 183. 
In case of a vjery irregular 
development among the 
laterals, incisions are made 
above a weak branchlet 
to encourage it, as at A, 

Fig. 184, and below a Pyramidal Pear Tree. Third pruning. 

strong one, as at C, to 

retard it until the equilibrium of the branches is esta- 
blished. At B this incision is made before a dormant 
bud that has failed to become developed into a lateral. 
This figure also shows the relative proportion to establish 
in pruning iiTcgularly developed branches spricging from a 
main stem that we wish to be equally balanced in all its 
parts. The weak shoot is not cut, or but very little ; the 
strong one is cut to below the level of the one it is desii'ed 
to encourage. These incisions should be performed with a 
little saw, so that the cuts may not soon heal over. The 




384 PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 



incisions s 



Fia. 186. 



hould penetrate sufficiently into the layer of 

young wood to well in- 
tercept the sap vessels. 
If with all these precau- 
tions there are objec- 
tionably bare spaces on 
the stem^ they furnish 
them by grafting by 
approach^ or in other 
words, turn back a ^dgo- 
rous branch to the main 
stem^ and graft it on to 
the bare space ; and if 
this cannot be done,, 
insert a short ordinary 
graft in the stem. This;, 
however^ with good ma- 
nagement will rarely be 
necessary. 

Having trained the 
branches straight^ the 
next point is to see that 
they follov the desired 
oblique line ; and it will 
be seen by the cuts that 
the disposition given 
them is better than the one they assume under a less careful 
system. The light enters freely to the stem^ and illumi- 
nates allj the more important part of 
the tree is under the command of the 
eye and hand^ and the top is pre- 
vented from running away. This, 
however, is more owing to the fine 
formation of the lower branches than 
to the position they assume^ though 
certainly such free and straight outlets 
for the rising sap are very effective in 
preventing a gross development above, 
and consequently in keeping the tree 




Grafting by approach, to cover bare spaces 
on Pyramidal Trees. 



Fig. 187. 




Grafting by approach as 
applied to Wall and 
Espalier Trees. 



PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 385 



in the desired condition. During the summer following the 
second pruning, the operations for maintaining the lead 
with the vertical branch, and equality among the lateral 
shoots of the new growth, must be carried out as before 
described. The third pruning is shown at Eig. 185, and it 
will be seen that here again the young lateral branches of 



Fig. 188. 




Pyramidal Pear Tree. Fourth pruning. 



the preceding summer are cut in much shorter than the 
lower ones to favour the development of these. 

At the fourth pruning the lower branches are not cut 
nearly so long as in the previous pruning, because they have 
now attained to almost the desired length and sufficient 
vigour. The new branches of the second series are left 
somewhat longer, and the pruner looks more to the top 
structure, so to speak. The wisdom of well forming 
the base at first will be seen at a glance. During the 

c c 



386 PYRAMIDAL TRAININGT OF THE PEAR TREE. 



summer following the fourth pruning before described, 
attention should be given to the young branches at the 
top of the pyramid, while the side ones will also require 
it. As the lower branches will have attained to nearly 
their full length, a too vigorous growth of the terminal 
shoot of each must be prevented by pinching. 



Fig. 189. 




Pyramidal Pear Tree. Fifth pruning. 



Fig. 189 shows the aspect of the tree at the fifth 
pruning, and how the pruning is performed. As is 
well seen by glancing from B to A of Fig. 189, the new 
growth of the lower branches is cut very short, while 
the higher the remaining superior branches are, the 



PYHAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR, TREE. 387 



longer thej are cut. 



Fig. 190. 




A careful glance at Fig. 189 
perfectly explains all this. 
The succeeding prunings 
differ notliing in principle 
from the preceding, future 
development taking place 
principally in the middle 
and higher parts of the 
tree. Care should be 
taken to guide in the de- 
sired direction by means 
of twine, and some- 
times slender stakes, any 
branches that may have 
deviated from it. Thus 
the pruning is carried on 
till the tree becomes a 
large and perfect pyra- 
mid, the laterals being 
well pinched in, and in 

Fig. 191. 




Figure theoreticcally indicating the Mode of 
forming a Pyramidal Pear Tree. (See p. 389.) 



Young Pyramidal Pear 
Tree. 

c c 2 



388 PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 



every case a free terminal slioot being allowed to proceed 
from each; so that the tree may be kept equally balanced 



Fig. 192. 




PjTamidal Pear Tree with bent branches. 



and the sap freely conducted through each branch. They 
may of course be cut back well every year : always. 



PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OE THE PEAR TREE. 3S9 

however; at a bud likely to furnisli a good shoot for the fol- 
lowing season. 

Fig. 193. 




Pyramidal Pear Tree of an inferior sort, cut back and regrafted 
with a good variety. 



Fig. 190 shows theoretically, first,, the central stem A to 
Bj and its successive cuttings back, 1 to 12 ; secondly, the 



890 PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 



Fig. 194. 



position successively occupied by the lower branches during 
the first six years, during which they were successively 
lowered and elongated from the point C to T ; and thirdly, 
the lines from I to S show the lines of each yearns pruning. 
It is very questionable if the mathematically designed 

pyramid here al- 
luded to be so de- 
sirable for gardens 
generally as a 
flatter and less 
pointed form. For 
example, the pyra- 
mid as represented 
at the time of its 
fourth or fifth 
pruning is in out- 
line preferable to 
the tall and 
finished pyramidal 
tree depicted in 
Fig. 177, and a 
style somewhat 
like that shown 
191 will 




m 



Kg. 



prove easier to 

form to those who 

„ ^ n ■, ^ . n , , hsive no time to 

VV all Pear Tree regrafted. On each of the branches „ . 

A, B, C, D, a graft has been placed. The graft at spare tor the nice- 

C failed, and consequently a shoot, e, is allowed to -j^jgg Q-f trainino". 
ascend; so that it may be budded the autumn . 

following the grafting. Occasionally the 

pyramidal Pear 

has its branches bent downwards, as in Eig. 192, some 
thinking that this induces a more fruitful habit. I never 
saw any clear evidence of this, and believe the form to be 
no better than the simple pyramid. 

The excellent practice of cutting in pyramidal and other 
trees that happen to be worthless varieties, and regrafting 
them with superior kinds, is much recommended by the 
French growers. 



PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 391 



Fig. 193. 



This system is quite as applicable to wall trees as to 
pyramids or standards. In numbers 
of our gardens great good might be 
effected by regrafting with good va- 
rieties^ and doing away with the worth- 
less ones, so very common. 

Fig. 195 represents a mode of train- 
ing to be seen here and there in 
France. The woodcut shows a fully 
formed tree before the winter prun- 
ing takes place, and, as will be seen 
at a glance, it is an erect stem 
densely furnished with short fruiting 
branches. This form is considered 
better than the pyramidal one, where 
saving of space is a consideration, and 
where we do not wish the trees to 
much shade the crops between them. 
They are also well suited for small 
gardens where space cannot be afforded 
for a large number of varieties if 
trained in the usual way. I have 
thought it worthy of a figui'e, but 
except on the Quince in suitable soils 
it is not likely to present many ad- 
vantages ; for if on the Pear and con- 
fined thus closely to a fastigiate bun- 
dle of shoots, it would in all probability 
run too high to permit of proper 
annual pruning or of the crop being 
gathered with convenience. Judging 
by the strength and thickness dis- 
played by our old horizontal wall trees 
grafted on the Pear stock, what should 
we arrive at if we adopted a contracted 
form like this with trees worked on 
the Pear ? Why, in a few years, and 
especially with the cordons, we should have objects more 
like rustic gate-posts than trees. 



^11 



Pear Tree trained in the 
Columnar form. 



392 PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 



It is not uncommon in English gardens to train tlie 
branches of the pyramidal Pear in a pendulous fashion ; and 




it is a system admired by some^ though somewhat more 
troublesome to form than the simple pyramid. Fig. 196 
represents a mode of applying a modification of the same 



PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 393 



principle to tlie ordinary horizontally trained Pear tree. I do 
not say that it is as good as it is graceful in appearance^ be- 
lieving as I do in simple easily-conducted forms^ but as tbese 
smaller arcbing branches may be established on kinds that 
bear better on the young wood_, or on trees with the branches 
thinly placed^ it may prove useful. The mode of formation 
is so simple and so easily established that no further descrip- 
tion is needed. However^ I cannot say too often that the 
simple and quickly-formed trees^ described elsewhere,, are as 
excellent for walls as for trellises^ combining as they do the 
advantages claimed for the cordons with a not too con- 
tracted, repressed development. 

"When the exact system of training described in this 
chapter is well carried out, well furnished branches and 
fruitful spurs are the rule. Should it not be so, the 
growers frequently resort to grafting fruit-buds on the bare 
spaces^ as shown by the following figures : — 

Fig. 197. Fig. 199. Fig. 201. 




394 PYRAMIDAL TRAINING OF THE PEAR TREE. 



The greatest attention is paid to the proper and neat 
pinching and pruning of the shoots, as shown by the 
following figures ; — 



Fig. 202. 




Proper mode of cutting shoot. Shoot cut too long. 
Fig. 205. Fig. 206. 




Shoot cut too low. 
Fig. 207. 




Young shoot of Pear pro- Shoot of Pear pinched Result of over-pinching, 
perly pinched at alpout too short, 

four inches from the base. 



Fig. 208. Fig. 209. Fig. 210. 




Another result of over- Pinching of the hourgeon The stipulary shoots forced into 
pinching. anticipe, or second growth by the removal of the 

growth of the Pear. principal shoot, A. 



395 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FIG CULTURE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF PARIS. 

Fig culture as practised in the neighbourhood of Paris is 
very peculiar and interesting, as well as successful^ and is, 
I believe, perfectly well adapted for the southern counties of 
England. As I have seen the Fig bearing well as a healthy 
standard tree at Arundel and elsewhere in Sussex without any 
attention, there cannot indeed be a doubt that the Parisian 
mode is perfectly applicable in sunny spots in the south. 
It might even be carried out on the railway embankments. 
It may not be amiss to state that the culture is founded 
upon the habits of the Fig in the climates of Paris and 
London. In hot countries the Fig is an evergreen tree, 
growing and bearing almost perpetually. In cold countries 
the Fig loses its leaves in winter, and becomes in fact a 
deciduous tree. Then the rudimentary figs borne at the 
end of each branch, instead of falling off prematurely as 
most other fruits would do, seem to rest stationary ; in the 
spring they recommence their growth, and ripen off into the 
large succulent and well-flavoured figs supplied to the Paris 
market in summer. The French call those figs that require 
part of two years for their development figues-fleurs ; those 
formed in spring and which ripen during warm autumns are 
known as secondes figues, or figues d^automne. These ripen 
but rarely in the climate of Paris, and it is to the care of the 
figues-fleurs, or figs formed in the preceding year, that all 
attention is given. To protect them and the young branches, 
the trees are trained in long sweeping shoots pretty near the 
soil, and in such a form that they may be readily interred 
in the ground when the winter and its dangers come. The 
frosts are often of great severity in the neighbourhood of 
Paris j so great indeed that the Fig would have little or no 



396 



fIG CULTURE IN THE 



chance if left exposed. So in autumn tlie sagacious culti- 
vators tkrow the branches into four bundles^ make a little 
trench for each^ and cover as shown by Figs. 214 and 21 7^ 
"with small sloping banks of soil,, protecting the crown of the 
root by means of a little cone of earth_, which merges 
gradually into the four little ridges that protect the 

branches. When the plantation 
211- is made on deeply inclined 

ground a somewhat different 
system is followed^ as is also 
shown by the figures. 

For the details of the culture 
we will refer to Du Breuil''s 
Culture des Arbres et Arbris- 
seaux."'^ In the climate of Paris 
the Fig tree is grown as a low 
shrub, with free sweeping bran- 
ches arranged in single lines 
or planted all together on a piece 
of ground devoted to the pur- 
pose, and which for a better 
name may be called a " figgery.'''' 
The branches of these tufty 
trees are not allowed to grow 
longer than from six to nine feet, 
so that the tree may be conve- 
niently buried in the ground 
during the winter. Those varie- 

Branch of Fisr Tree Learinsr the i • i i ^^ 

Figs formed during the preced- ties which producc rudimentary 
iiig_ year, D; those formed figg in autumn in abundance 

during the current year, A ; and ^ , , 

rudimentary Figs, C. are the Only ones grown, as 

the figs of the current year 
very rarely arrive at maturity. Argenteuil and La Frette 
are the two most famous localities for the cultivation 
of the Fig tree in the neighbourhood of Paris. Before 
the southern railways were constructed, these two villages 
used to supply the whole of Paris with all the green 
figs that were seen in the markets. The introduction of 
the Fig tree into Argenteuil appears to have taken place 




NEIGHBOURHOOD OF PARIS. 



397 



about two centuries ago. It is cultivated in orchards in 
deeply dug and richly manured land, the soil of which is of a 
siliceous,, calcareous, and clayey nature, weK sheltered from 
the north and north-west winds, and open to the south and 
east. The cultivation of the Fig extends over a space of 
130 acres, the production being somewhere about 400,000 
figs per annum. The variety grown in this locality is the 
Blanquette or white Courcourelle, and the method of grow- 
ing it is as follows : — 

Layers raised in baskets or in the ordinary way are 
planted in the month of March in holes about four feet 



Fig. 212. 




Fig Tree growing on level ground. 



six inches in diameter, and one foot eight inches deep, filled 
with well manured mould. The planting is performed in 
such a way that the roots of the layer are buried from ten 
inches to one foot deep, and that the stem which springs out 
of the earth in an oblique direction should be covered with 
from three to four inches of earth. To form the stool 
more quickly two layers may be planted in the same hole 
instead of only one. In this case the two layers are placed 
in lines parallel to those of the plantation at eight inches' 
distance from each other, and in such a way that the stems 
are opposed to each other in the direction of this line. 



398 riG CULTURE IN THE 

The surface of the hole should be at least a foot below that 
of the surrounding soil. The rest of the soil is arranged 
slantwise round the stem of the layer^ so that the rain- 
water may be easily retained round the roots of the young 
trees. The trees are planted five or six yards apart,, the 
lines being separated by a space of about four yards, so as 
to form a kind of quincuncial arrangement. These young 
plants are left to themselves during the whole of the 
summer, care being taken to keep them from drought by 
means of frequent watering and careful covering. During 
the first half of November, when the first cold days set in 
and the trees are completely bare of leaves, a dry day is 
chosen when the ground is not too damp, and the young 
branch is carefully bent downwards until it reaches the 

bottom of the 
trench. It is 
then covered up 
with a layer of 
earth a foot deep 
to preserve it 
from the cold. 
Towards the end 

Section showing Fig Tree growing on level ground, of February, as 

soon as the 

weather has become mild, the branches are uncovered and 
the trench is arranged the same as it was before earthing 
up. The development of the young plant is again allowed 
to proceed during the summer, after which it is once more 
earthed up in November. 

The third spring after planting, a fine day is chosen to- 
wards the middle of March — the young stem is cut at from 
six to eight inches from the ground so as to favour the pro- 
duction of a large crop of shoots, which will afterwards form 
the principal branches of the tree. These shoots are allowed 
to grow through the summer, and are earthed up in autumn. 
This process is performed according to the following 
directions : — A dry day is chosen y/lien the soil is in a 
friable condition, so that it will fill the spaces betv^een the 
branches without leaving any empty places. The soil used 




NEIGHBOURHOOD OF PARIS. 



399 



Fig. 214. 



should be free from leaves, grass, and straw, which if they 
were allowed to come in contact with the buried branches 
would cause them to become rotten. It is also necessary 
to pull off the half-grown autumn figs, which would rot in 
the earth, and cause the same mischief as any other de- 
composing vegetable matter. These precautions having been 
taken, the branches of the tree are divided into four equal 
bundles, each being tied together with string. As many 
trenches as there are bundles of branches are then dug in the 
ground. Each 
trench com- 
mences at the 
foot of the tree, 
and is made of 
sufficient depth 
to contain the 
bundles of bran- 
ches. They are 
dug in different 
directions, ac- 
cording as the 
ground is in- 
clined or hori- 
zontal. In the 
former case they 
are dug all in 
the same up- 
ward direction 
as in Eig. 217 ; 
when, however, the ground is horizontal, they radiate equally 
from the centre. The earthing up of the branches being ac- 
complished accordingto these directions, each bundle is covered 
with mould to the depth of eight inches, a small cone being 
piled up exactly over the root. 

Towards the end of February of the fourth or fifth 
year of planting, a damp warm day is chosen for uncovering 
the buried Fig trees. The sooner this operation is accom- 
plished the more forward will be the growth of the tree, 
and the ripening of the fruit ; but the early fruit is often 




Sliowing the Mode of burying the Fig Trees cultivated 
on level ground, to preserve them from being destroyed 
by frost in winter. 



400 



FIG CULTURE IN THE 



destroyed by tlie late frosts. For this reason some growers 
prefer to defer this operation until the end of March^ al- 
though the trees frequently suffer from being thus suddenly 
exposed to the heat of the sun^ and the fruit does not 
ripen so well. Others uncover one-half their trees at the 
end of February, and the other half at the end of March. 
By this means a better average crop is insured both in 
quality and quantity. The branches are separated from 
each other by equal distances so as to avoid confusion, as 

well as to prevent 
the leaves from rub- 
biDg against the 
fruit, which would 
have the effect of 
blackening them, 
and render them 
comparatively 
worthless. Those 
branches that are 
too near the ground 
are also held up by 
means of forked 
pieces of wood. The 
soil is carefully le- 
velled where the 
ground is horizon- 
tal, a little hollow 
being made round 
the root of the tree 
to hold the rain water. Trees that are planted on 
sloping ground require hollows to be made in the 
soil, so that the water which flows from the higher 
ground may be collected at the root of each tree. 
In this way a proper degree of moisture is insured 
during the whole of the summer, besides which the 
soil is prevented from being cut up by the rains. 
This plan would seem to be peculiarly well suited 
to plantations on the steep slopes of railway embank- 
ments. Henceforward the young shoots growing from 



Fig. 215. 




Fig Tree planted on sloping ground, with Earth 
Basin on lower side to better retain the water. 



NEIGHBOURHOOD OF PARIS. 



401 



the stock are carefully cut 
weaken the larger branckes. 
during the fifth 
year. 

In the spring 
of the sixth 
year the oldest 
branches are of 
the form shown 
in Fig. 218. 
The operation 
of nipping oflp 
the buds at the 
end of each 
branch is per- 
formed as soon 
as the uncov- 
ered trees begin 
to show signs 
on some fine 



off ; otherwise they would 
These precautions are taken 




Section showing Tig Tree planted on inclined ground, 
with Earth Basin to retain the water. 



of springing into leaf, that is to say that 
day the bud on the end of each lateral 
shoot is pinched off so as to favour the formation of buds 

on the wood 
217. lower down,, as 

, -_— ""^ell as for the en- 

couragement of 
any young figs 
that already 
show signs of 
making their ap- 
pearance. About 
one-half of the 
buds on the side 
branches are 
also pinched off, 
choosing those 
that are nearest 

to the young figs. Two, however, are always left on near the 
base of each branch, and one towards the tip, in order to draw 
up the sap. The end shoot of each branch is treated in the 

D D 




Fig Tree planted on sloping earth buried for the 
winter months. 



402 



EIG CULTURE IN THE 



Tia. 218. 




same manner but with this difference; that the bud imme- 
diately below the one at the end is allowed 
to remain on, as well as one or two more 
for the purpose of producing side branches, 
which ought to be left about a foot from 
each other on each stem. As soon as the 
young shoots attain the length of about 
two inches,, the shoots on all the lateral 
branches and on the end branch are nipped 
off — a fine day being chosen for the purpose. 
Of the former only a single shoot — the 
one nearest the base of the branch — is 
allowed to remain so as to replace the one 
which bears the fruit of the year. The 
shoot at the end of the terminal branch is 
allowed to remain, and some of the lateral 
ones intended to bear fruit in the follow- 
ing year. These last are spaced out so 
that they may receive an equal amoimt of 
sunshine without being interwoven or rub- 
bing their leaves against the fruit. As 
soon as the proper number of branches 
that each stool ought to bear is reached, 
all new shoots growing on the parent stem are nipped off. 

Although the figs which make their 
appearance during the current year 
ripen with difficulty, a certain number 
may be grown in favourable years. 
To hasten their ripening you must 
proceed in the following manner. 
Those branches which appear to be 
most prolific are allowed to retain 
two shoots at their base instead of 
only one. The one nearest the base 
is intended to produce the young figs 
for the following: year, the other the Fig branch with young Figs. 

^ , „ The lateral side buds, 

autumn llgS. in order to lorce a, B, B, B, are pinched in 

these latter into rapid growth the spring -two at the base, 

^ ^ . -D, r*, and one at the apex, 

end of the shoot must be nipped c, being left. 



Stem of Fig the sixth 
year after planting. 
The points of the 
shoots A, A, A, A, 
are pinched off in 
spring to favour the 
development of the 
Figs, and also of 
"wood-buds at the 
base of the shoots. 



Fig. 219. 




NEIGHBOURHOOD OY PARIS. 



408 



off as soon as it Jias attained the length of fonr or 
five inches. As the process of forcing autumn figs 
to ripen makes the trees weaker and less able to produce 
the bads^ or " fig flowers/'' for the next year, only those 
which are strong and vigorous should be chosen for the 
purpose. 

Should the late frosts destroy the crop of figs, an 
event which may take place before the middle of May, 
summer pruning must be resorted 
to, that is to say, each lateral 
branch is pruned back to near 
the stem. This operation causes 
the sap to flow to the old wood 
and produce a large crop of shoots. 
This circumstance is taken advan- 
tage of to fill up empty spaces, of 
course taking care to leave only 
those shoots growing that are 
really useful. The shoots are 
thinned out according to the me- 
thod already described. 

After the figs are gathered, 
each branch bearing fruit presents 
the appearance shown in fig. 220, 

or that in fig. 221, if the shoots Branch of Fig Tree after the 

have been retained so that we f^^f t-TiV 
may have autumn figs. Towards some of the lower Figs may 
the end of August a dry day is Xei ' '^that' hrs 
chosen for cleaning the figgery. home figs is cut at B. 
The portions of the shoots which 

have borne fruit are cut off as shown at fig. 220, and 
useless shoots are taken away just above the lowest eye. If 
this eye should develope the succeeding year it ia disbudded 
in its turn. Withered branches are also removed quite 
close to the stem, care being taken to cover the open places 
with grafting wax. Some growers leave this operation until 
the spring of the following year, but prunings made at that 
time give rise to a much greater loss of sap, and the 
wounds made in the tree heal up with great difficulty. 

D n 2 



Fig. 220. 




404 riG CULTURE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF PARIS. 



grown to the length 



In the spring of the seventh year the lateral branches of 
each stem are treated like those of the preceding year. 
The other operations are similar to those already described. 
The principal branches are allowed to grow longer every 
year,, taking care to allow the fruit-bearing shoots, which 
are replaced from year to year^, like those of the Peach tree^ 
to remain at regular intervals. When the branches have 
of fi^om six to nine feet, their growth 
should be checked, other- 
wise the sap will desert 
the fruit-bearing branches 
at the sides, and so cause 
them to wither away. 
When sufficiently long 
the principal are treated 
in the same way as di- 
rected for the side 
branches. 

The earthing up to 
which the branches of the 
Fig tree are subjected 
every year causes them 
to grow in a horizontal 
direction a foot or eigh- 
teen inches from the 
ground. This is an ele- 

Brancli of Fig Tree after the gatherins: of , r- n 

the crop. C bears the young Figs forAe ^^nt of SUCCCSS, for on 

coming year's crop ; D is pinched back the One hand the fruit 

to help the ripening of some of the Figs ± j. .i -, 

of the current year ; and the fruit has nearest tO the grOUnd 

been gathered from the naked shoot, which receives the greater part 

is cut at B. n ,T_ T J. T ' 

01 the heat and ripens 

readily, and on the other the sap is more evenly distri- 
buted amongst the different side branches. The Ar- 
genteuil Fig trees begin to bear when they are six years 
old, and are in full perfection at ten years. They live a long 
time, but it is necessary to renew the long and old stems, 
which wear out every twelve or fifteen years. For this pur- 
pose the requisite number of shoots are allowed to grow on 
the parent stem to replace those which are cut away in the 




PRESERVING GRAPES THROUGH THE WINTER. 405 

August following. The soil round tlie trees should be dug 
up every year in the spring after having unearthed the 
branches and before covering in the trenches at the foot of 
the tree. They should also be well watered several times 
during the summer and manured every three years. The 
practice of putting a drop of fine oil into the eye of 
the fruit just as it colours and shows signs of opening, to 
hasten its maturity, is employed about Paris, especially during 
cold summers. 

Preserving Grapes through the Winter without letting them 
hang on the Vines. 

The preservation of grapes through the winter with the 
least amount of trouble is one of the most important of all 
matters to the British grape grower. Every cultivator, 
young or old, knows to his cost what a task it is to keep 
grapes hanging all the winter after they are ripe, especially 
in places where there are a good many houses devoted to 
vines. The latest books on the vine give directions for 
regulating the vineries so as to preserve the grapes on the 
vine after they are ripe, and every calendar of operations 
tells us how to manage them in that respect, though I fear 
the directions are not always intelligible. Here, for 
instance, is an extract from a recent issue of a leading 
garden paper : — " Those who wish to keep grapes hanging 
as fresh and plump as possible to the longest possible period, 
must take care not to afford them too much heat, as an 
excess of this, no matter how dry the structure may be, or 
how favourably treated otherwise, is sure to cause them to 
shrivel more or less prematurely. Give only just such 
warmth to the pipes or flues as will insure sufficient buoy- 
ancy to any humidity (!) which may arise in the house as to 
enable it to make its escape. Independently of the ill 
effects caused by actual heat, a too warm atmosphere, even 
in the driest house, will cause a correspondingly excessive 
evaporation and consequent condensation Then of course 
we must have fire heat and give air when foggy days occur, 
" as,^"* says Mr. Thompson of Chiswick — the mean tempe- 



406 PRESEHVING GEAPES THEOUGH THE WINTER 



rature of this montL. (November) is on tlie average little 
above 40°^ and the air is generally saturated with, nioistnre. 
"When this is the case^ moisture "will be deposited on all 
substances exposed to the air^ if they are not warmer than 
it is. Grapes that are ripe should therefore be kept 
warmer than the air^ otherwise they will be liable to damp. 
The application of fire heat would efi'ect this : but if it were 
applied suddenly^ and without air being given at the same 
time, the heated air would deposit moisture on the berries ; 
for although these would ultimately acquire the same tem- 
perature as that of the air surrounding them_, yet for a time 
they would be colder, and so long as this is the case they 
would act as condensers of the moisture in the warmer air 
in contact with them. The more rapidly the air is heated, 
the greater for a time will be the difference between the 
temperature of the fruit and that of the air, and of course 
the slower the heating the less at any time will be the 
difference. Give therefore in damp weather, a little fire 
heat in the morning and admit air. If the nights are cold, 
the temperature of the house should not be allowed to fall 
lower than 45°.^'' 

Here then are nice operations and a lot of trouble to 
bestow on perhaps half a dozen houses during the winter 
months ! If the vineries are shaky and badly heated, the 
task is most difficult and annoying ; in the best constructed 
ones it is a great and needless labour. The trouble of 
regulating the atmosphere, the expense for fire heat, and 
the necessity of keeping the house almost entirely devoted 
to the grapes, must render any improvement very acceptable. 
Several times during the spring of 1867 I noticed grapes 
hanging from branches the ends of which were inserted in 
vases of water — grapes which the exhibitors described as 
having been for a long time so preserved in a fresh state. 
From such few specimens I did not derive sufficient confi- 
dence in the method to speak with certainty of its merits, 
but having since then visited a good many gardens in which 
the method is practised, I found that it is accepted as a great 
boon by some of the best gardeners in Fi-ance, and their 
system of keeping grapes has been altered accordingly. 



WITHOUT LETTING THEM HANG ON THE VINES. 407 



The best example in a private place was in the gardens of 
]Ferrieres_, the magnificent country seat of Baron Eothschild. 
Here they have constructed^ in addition to very fine and 
well filled fruit rooms, a grape room, which is filled with 
stands thickly hung from top to bottom with all kinds of 
grapes. M. Bergman, the manager, was cutting down all 
his grapes in harvest fashion, and would in a few weeks, as 
soon as the latest houses were ripe, have his many and 
well managed vineries to do as he pleased with : ripen the 
wood, prune and clean the vines, or utilize the cleared 
space of the houses for any purpose that might be con- 



FiG. 222. i^'iG. 223. Fig. 224, 




Tliomery mode of fixing Ferrieres mode of fixing Portion of upright 

the bottles. the bottles. used in (irape- 

room at Ferrieres. 



venient, not fearing as we do to spill a drop of water or 
make full use of the house. 

The grapes are cut with a considerable portion of the 
shoot attached, much as if one were pruning the vine ; the 
shoot is inserted in a narrow-necked and small bottle con- 
taining water, and these little bottles are fixed firmly along, 
so that the bunches hang just clear of each other. In the 
first instance two pretty strong uprights are erected, 
each supported on three legs. Then from one to the other 
of these, on both sides alternately, are nailed sets of strong 
laths, two for each line of bottles. These laths are kept an 
inch and a half or so apart by a piece of wood at each end ; 
in the inner one are made incisions, into which the bottom 



408 PRESERVING GRAPES THROUGH THE WINTER 



of each little bottle fits, and then the outer lath has a con- 
cave incision in which the side of the bottle rests,, so that^ 
caught in the inner and leaning firmly on the outer lath, it 
holds the stem and stout bunch quite firmly. I thus par- 
ticularize it from having seen other ways of doing the same 
thing less neatly and simply than this. Walking space was 
left between the walls of grapes ; for six or seven rows were 
arranged one above another on both sides of each support. 

Charcoal is mixed with water, allowed to stand for some 
time, and then the water is strained off to fill the bottles. 
But there can be no doubt that to put a pinch of animal 
charcoal in each bottle would prove a better plan of guarding 
the water from any impurity from the slight deposit of or- 
ganic matter that might be expected ; at least, it does not 
seem very clear how charcoal removed from the water before 
the vine-stem is put in can have much effect in keeping it 
pure. However, this is not an important matter, and it is 
certain that a pinch of animal charcoal, which is very cheap, 
will keep the water quite sweet. One cultivator who keeps 
grapes on a large scale by this method, never uses any char- 
coal at all, but simply fills his little bottles almost full with 
water, and then inserts the branches, which nearly close the 
necks of them. He appeared quite as well satisfied with 
the plan as those who had taken more pains to keep the 
water sweet. In case evaporation should cause the water 
in the bottles to fall below the bases of the shoots it is 
simply necessary to add a little more. 

Of course it will be understood in a moment that with 
one-tenth the amount of expense and trouble that is now 
necessary in large grape-growing places, we may in a grape- 
room like this maintain conditions infinitely better calculated 
for the preservation of the fruit than the atmosphere of any 
vinery can possibly be. We may keep the fruit dark, pre- 
serve the necessary amount of dryness in the atmosphere, 
and keep up a temperature constantly equal — all of which 
are essential to the well-being of fruits, and none of which 
can possibly be attained in the house in which the grapes 
are grown. It would of course be wise, in arranging a room 
of the sortj to have hollow walls and other contrivances to 



WITHOUT LETTING THEM HANG ON THE VINES. 409 



attain tlie conditions nnder which fruit is known to keep 
best. 

M. Rose-Charmeux^ the great grape grower of Thomery, 
was^ I belie VC; the first to try this plan. Now, as we grow 
by far the best and largest quantity of hothouse grapes of 
auy country this method will prove of far more use to us 
than to the French. I was told by experienced French 
growers who have adopted the system_, that they keep the 
fruit as long this way as upon the vine,, with fewer mouldy 



Fig. 225. 




Interior of Grape-room in wLich the System described is carried out. 

berries, and almost without trouble; and it is not likely 
that a man would cut down half a dozen houses of fine 
grapes at the beginning of October unless he had already 
proved it to be a good system. The advantage of having 
all the stock of grapes safely housed and away from the 
attacks of vermin and other interlopers, is another of the 
many presented by this plan, which I now leave in the 
reader^s hands for trial, confident that it will prove a great 
boon to the grape grower, and tend to make that fruit — 



410 PRESERVING GRAPES THROUGH THE WINTER 



every day growing in popularity — a great deal more enjoy- 
able and obtainable in tbe winter and early spring months. 
For if it be a process requiring much care in large well-con- 
ducted gardens^ how much more difficult must it be for the 
large class of amateurs and small gardeners to preserve their 
fruit in good condition ? In places where the stock of grapes 
is not sufficient to require a special room for their keeping, 
part of the fruit room might be adopted; or even a diy 
cellar or store-room. 

The above was written pre"sious to visiting M. Rose-Char- 
meux_, with whom the system originated. I have since seen 
his grapes stored for the winter; the method was in. full 
working order^ and even more simple and effective than could 
have been supposed. He began by having a stove and a 
couple of chimneys to try to regulate the atmosphere of his 
large grape-room; but finding that the grapes keep very 
much better without this, he now simply devotes to his 
winter stock a large room in his house, fitting it up in all 
parts to accommodate handily the little bottles before spoken 
of, padding the inside of the windows so as to exclude light, 
and obviate^ as far as possible, changes of temperatui^e. The 
grapes are cut in October, and preserved in good condition 
until Aprils when his earliest are ripe. He has frequently 
shown them in May, and even later, and has kept them till 
August ; but of course the quality cannot be expected to be 
good after such very long keeping, which is merely done for 
the sake of show. A small room in '^l. Rose-Charmeux^s 
house illustrates to a nicety the fact that a similar one in 
most houses may be made to answer the purposes of keeping 
grapes. It has no windows, and scarcely any means of ven- 
tilation. The house is heated by hot air ; but while there 
are openings in the floor of the passages and other rooms 
to admit this, there are none in this little room in which the 
grapes keep perfectly. Thus it is clear that the ordinary 
dwelling house will present suitable conditions for the long 
preservation of grapes. The system was attractive enough 
when it was considered necessary to construct a room specially 
to carry it out ; it is much more so now when it has been 
proved that not only is it not necessary to take any special 



WITHOUT LETTING THEM HANG ON THE VINES. 411 



means to warm or ventilate the structnre^ but that tlie grapes 
keep mucli better witbout that trouble. The first result of 
tbe method was a gain to the village of Thomery, which 
is almost wholly occupied with grape culture^ of from 
lOOjOOO to loOjOOO fi-ancs per annum. The system enables 
the cultivators to keep their grapes much later than of old, 
and thus to add considerably to their revenue. 

Since the above was written this system has been tried 
and favourably reported on by Mr. Hill of Keele Hall^ the 
famous grape grower^ and by other practical men. Mr. 
Whittaker of Crewe Hall sent some to a meeting of the 
Horticultural Society^ but he had taken unnecessary trouble 
by corking and sealing the bottles. The insertion of the 
shoot into a bottle of water is all that is required^ and as 
the bottles used are little more than wide enough at the 
neck to admit the shoot^ the evaporating surface exposed is 
very small. It was urged against the method at this meet- 
ing that the grapes " lose their sugar .''^ This is not the 
case unless the fruit is kept a very long time. The French 
in carrying out their experiments have kept some of their 
grapes as long as they could^ and have frequently shown 
them in a nice plump condition long after they ripen their 
early grapes — just for the " honour of the thing.'''' In these 
instances a loss of sugar was no doubt perceptible; but 
what kind of flavour would berries possess if left hanging on 
the vine till the summer months when the Frenchmen ex- 
hibited their grapes ? The necessity for keeping the grapes 
tiU they lose their sugar does not exist. In most of our large 
gardens gi'apes are forced early^ and would be ripe before the 
fruit of the previous year had lost its virtues in the least 
degree. And in our comparatively small gardens^ containing 
perhaps a vinery or two, how many bunches of grapes are 
left after the consumption of the winter months ? To be 
able to clear the vineries of grapes for two months before 
the ordinary time would be a decided gain to thousands of 
gardeners in this country. 

"About the 15th of April/'' says Mr. Thompson,, "the 
sap began to rise in the vines, and some of the berries that 
were a little shrivelled suddenly got plump, while others 



412 THE CULTURE OE THE VINE AT THOMERr. 

that had shown no signs of shrivelling burst their skins, 
and the sap of the vine that had forced itself into them 
began to drip from them Surely even in such a case as 
this it would be a gain to the grape grower to cut his grapes 
a few weeks before any danger of such a thing existed,, and 
thereby keep them a little longer from bursting their skins 
and giving forth what cannot be very rich in sugar ! The 
expense and care required to keep grapes during the dull 
and cold months of winter in the ordinary way is very con- 
siderable^ and the inconvenience and loss of space are great. 
The latest writers among grape growers recommend the 
surface of the '^interior borders to be kept perfectly dry 
and to remain so all the winter, care being taken that as 
little sweeping or raking takes place as possible, for by this 
means dust is raised which settles on the bunches.''^ Prac- 
tically speaking, houses treated in this way are nearly use- 
less for anything except keeping the grapes, consuming 
fuel, and wasting labour. Remove the necessity of keeping 
grapes on the vines long after they are thoroughly ripe, 
and the houses may be filled at a season when every inch of 
the room in vineries is wanted for storing plants. 

The Culture of the Vine at Thomery. 

At first I had intended to say nothing whatever about 
the grapes grown against walls in the open air, but further 
consideration has shown me that the culture of the 
grape in this way may be attempted with profit over 
a large part of the southern and midland counties 
of England, and therefore an account is given of the 
successful and highly interesting culture of the Chasselas 
Grape near Paris, where it mast be grown against 
walls as well as with us. Respecting this grape, it 
may be well to notice that when well ripened against 
walls the French think it the best grape ever grown, and 
superior to our hothouse grapes, fine as they look. Here 
I am simply stating an opinion without endorsing it, 
merely adding that this estimate is not solely confined 
to those who have no opportunity of judging both sides 



THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AT THOMERY. 413 



of the question, but was held, by the late Baron Rothschild, 
who grew all our finest grapes. Grape culture is often 
successful against houses with us when it receives mere 
chance attention from cottagers and others. By selecting 
the soil and position, and really paying some attention to 
protecting and cultivating the Vine, we may grow capital 
grapes against our walls, even in many places where ground 
vineries are now resorted to. Should any person doubt 
the possibility of cultivating the Chasselas and others of 
our best hardy grapes in the open air, I have merely to 



Fio. 226. 




"Wall of Chasselas at Thomerj, showing the Vines trained as Horizontal 
Cordons, and both in a pruned and unpruned condition. 

refer him to the horticultural papers for the autumn of 1868. 
They contain abundant evidence that even with the rough 
treatment grapes now receive in the open air, it is quite 
possible to grow them of good quality on walls. Grapes 
are already grown well in the open air in a few places — 
by Mr. Darkin, at Bury St. Edmunds, for example ; and by 
Mr. Fenn, in the Rectory Garden at Woodstock ; so that 
there can be no doubt about the possibility of ripening good 
grapes over a considerable portion of England and Ireland. 

It is necessary to observe that the plan is only recom- 
mended for warm soils and positions, for gardens not having 



414 THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AT THOMERY. 



mucli glass and yet some wall space, for covering cottages, 
out-offices, &c., and not in any way as a substitute for Vine 
culture indoors. It may, nevertheless, be added tbat I 
have never yet tasted the Chasselas de Fontainebleau or 

Royal Muscadine nearly so 
well flavoured as when 
grown in the open air, and 
that all who admire this 
grape would do well to 
attempt its culture on warm 
walls. The culture of the 

Fig. 228. 





Vines trained Vertically with alter- 
Eose-Cliarmeux's System of Vertical nated spurs, wires nine inches apart 
Training. The Vines are planted at on wail ; Vines about twenty-eight 
sixteen inches apart. inches apart. 



Chasselas de Fontainebleau at Thomery and other places in 
the vicinity of Paris is the best example of open air culture 
anywhere to be found ; and this variety, more generally 
knovm in England as the Royal Muscadine, is also far the 
best for culture in the open air in this country. 



THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AT THOMERY. 415 



Fig. 229. 




Low Double Espalier, and Mode of Protecting 
the Vines. 



An account of the grape growing at this place from the pen 
of M, Eose-Charmeux is likely to convey the most practical 
information on the 
subject; and the fol- 
lowing is translated 
from his Culture 
de Chasselas — 

''At Thomery the 
soil is of a sandy and 
clayey nature, and 
mixed with pebbles 
in those parts which 
are near the river. 
The soil is at all 
times easy to work. 
Near the Seine it 
lacks depth — so much 
SO; indeed; that be- 
fore cultivation it has 

to be dug and trenched so as to remove some of the stony 
subsoil. Everywhere else the layer of vegetable mould 

measures from four feet 
^i^- 230. six inches to six feet in 

thickness. This layer 
lies on a reddish clay of 
about the same thicknesS; 
and beneath the clay is a 
broken - up stratum of 
building stone hlled with 
fissures. This building 
stone is easily extracted. 
The grapes ripen a fort- 
night earlier in the flinty 
districts than in those 
parts in which the soil 
is deeper and richer. 
'''The gardens at Thomery; taken altogether; present 
much the appearance of those of Montreuil-sur-Bois. 
There is nothing but walls in all directions; distant from 




Section of top of wall at Tliomery, sliowin< 
the projection of the temporary coping. 



416 THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AT THOMERY. 



eacli otlier about forty feet_, and ten feet high. This 
height has only obtained during the last fifteen years^ 
before which period they were rarely higher than six 
or seven feet. The change has been advantageous for 
two reasons; firsts the grape growers have been able to 
increase the space required for their purpose by taking pos- 
session of a larger portion of air instead of having to buy 
fresh ground ; and secondly^ the high walls 
are found to improve the appearance and ^32. 
quality of the grapes. The walls are built of 
hard stone quarried in the neighbourhood. 



Fig. 231. 




Sulpliur Distributor employed at Thomerj. 

the stones being laid with mud only. The 
face of the wall is then covered with a 
mortar made of lime and sand, and is ^ obtain 

finally covered with tlie same material the Cordon, 
thinned to a cream. 

Every wall is topped with a roof of pantiles, surmounted 
by a row of gutter tiles. These roofs project about ten inches, 
and below them are fixed at every yard iron rods, inclined 
slightly downwards. These supports project about twenty 
inches beyond the edge of the tiles, aflPording altogether a 
support of at least two feet six inches wide. Upon this is 
fixed, when occasion requires it, a coping of bituminized felt, 
or, where economy is necessary, a piece of thin plank. The 



THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AT THOMERY. 417 



bituminized felt is stretched on frames of wood^ about 
ten feet in length by eighteen inches in width, the felt 
being fastened to them by means of small nails. These 
frames are chiefly used when the grapes are perfectly ripe, 
which is generally about September 15, or when there 
is danger of the fruit being spoilt by heavy rains. Formerly, 
before these methods of shelter were employed, large quan- 
tities of grapes were continually 
lost through becoming rotten with 
the wet ; since their adoption, 
however, there is no fear of such a 
result. The size of the temporary 
copings to be used is always de- 

FiG. 233. 



Fig. 234. 





Layer of Vine raised and 
planted in basket. 



Low Espalier of Vines trained vertically, 
four feet high. 

pendent on the aspect and height 
of the walls. With walls facing 
the south and ten feet high, 
frames containing felt at least 
thirty inches in width ought to be 
used. With a western aspect, they 

ought to be even wider, in order to avoid all danger from 
the heavy rains. With the old low walls, frames twenty - 
four inches wide for the south, twenty-eight inches for the 
west, and sixteen inches for the east, were found to be quite 
sufficient.''-' 

After selecting a proper position and soil, the most 
important point is the sulphuring to prevent the Oidium. 



418 THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AT THOMERY. 



Salpliiir is the effective cure for this pest^ and it should be 
applied directly after the first pinching of the shoots_, at a 
temperature below 96° Fahr. in the open air. If the heat 
is too great,, the young skin of the grape is liable to become 
decomposed. In full sunshine at noon the fruit would be 
burnt up in an hour^s time. Sulphuring may be carried 
on while the dew is falling. There is no fear in this case 
of soiling the grapes. The operation should not be deferred 
until the Oidium has made its appearance. The second 



Fig. 235. 




Moveable Scaffold used for thinning the Grapes. 



sulphuring should be performed when the grapes are about as 
large as a pea^ or even earlier if the Oidium has appeared at all. 
It would be preferable to sulphur while the vines are in flower. 
The operation is performed with sublimated sulphur, blown 
upon the vine with a pair of bellows (Fig. 231) specially 
contrived for the purpose. It may be efiectively done with- 
out the operator standing an instant in one spot, but passing 
quickly along the line. In these latitudes heavy rains 
destroy in part the eff'ect of the sulphur, and it is nearly 
always necessary to repeat the operation three or four times. 



THE CULTURE 01 THE VIXE AT THOArEEY. 419 



If tte grapes themselves are attacked^ it is on them that the 
flowers of sulphur should be applied. It has been remarked 
that under sunshine the Oidinm may be totally destrored in 
one hour, a result that may be attributed to the speedier 
disengagement of sulphurous acid gas by the heat of the sun, 
but it is dangerous to apply it if the sun is too strong/'^ 

The pruning of the yine is so well understood in England 
that it is needless to give it here in the fall detail with which 
it is honoured in M. Rose-Charmeux's book, the Culture 
du Chasselas.'^ Indeed, after having translated his direc- 



Fi&. 236. Fig. 237. 




Stade to protect the Grape -thiimers from thirtr-one inclies wide, and 

strong 5tm. ten inches and a half deep. 



tions their painful and unnecessary minuteness and gi'eat 
length have obliged me to omit them. The system as shown 
in Figs. 227 and 228 is simply the well known spur pruning 
practised in nearly every English vir.ery. There are indeed 
several modifications of training : but this as everybody knows 
is of no real importance. In this case, a? with the vine 
indoors, the selection of a proper medium for the roots is of 
far gi'eater importance than anything else,, while the 
simplest form and the best system of pruning ai'e without 
doubt the same as those seen in our Adnerie? — an erect 

E E 2 



4:20 THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AT THOMEUY. 

stem vrith the side slioots annually pruned in. At Thomeiy 
tlie vine is frequently trained as a horizontal cordon line 
over line ; but to execute this form well requires time and 
skill, which only cultivators who devote themselves specially 
to it can afford,, and it may be safely said that letting the 
vines run straight up the walls and with their spurs at each 
side is better than any less simple mode. The really im- 

FiG. 238. Fig. 239. Fig. 240. 




Mode of Grafting the Mode of Grafting the Vine, by Gouge used in 
Vine at Thomery. approach, practised at Tho- Grafting the Vine : 

mery. ten inches long. 



portant points to bear in mind are — first, the warmer the 
exposure is, the better for the grape ; second, that the walls 
are white, or nearly so, as the vines get more heat on such 
walls than they do on dark ones, and are maintained in 
better health ; thii^d, that wide and efficient copings are 
used to permit the fruit to thoroughly ripen in autumn, 
and prevent its being spoiled by heavy rains ; and that the 



THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AT THOMERY. 421 



higher walls are found to possess an advantage over the 
lower ones. The plants are frequently raised in rough 
baskets for convenience of removal and sale. Several of the 
appliances here in use are sensible ones, which might be 
found useful in other ways than that of vine culture. I 
allude to the moveable scaffold to facilitate the labours of the 
women who attend to the walls in summer (Fig. 235), the 
shade to shield them from the sun (Fig. 236), and the frame 
for conveying a number of small baskets laden with grapes 
from the walls to the grape room (Fig. 237). 

Grafting is frequently performed, and chiefly to replace a 
bad by a good variety, or to hasten the fructification of a new 
one. The plant is cut down 
to within nine or ten inches Fig. 241. 

of the soil, and with the 
gouge (Fig. 240) an incision 
is made on the smoothest side, 
a corresponding cut being 
made in a scion or in the 
stem of a young plant, both 
of which methods are shown 
in Figs. 238 and 239. The 
grafting is performed as soon 
as the sap begins to move in 
spring, and the grafts are tied 
and covered with grafting wax, 
as shown in Fig. 239. 

A particularly noticeable feature in the cultivation, is 
that the young vines are as a rule planted at a considerable 
distance from the wall — say a little more than three feet, 
and the stem laid into the ground to near the base of 
the wall. Sometimes the stem is allowed to rise some 
distance from the wall, and in the following year when it 
has grown a little it is again lowered and taken to the walk 
This method is obviously pursued to secure a number of 
vigorous roots spread over a large surface. Where the 
ground is stony and poor it is probably a good plan. 

As regards the forcing of grapes at Thomery, I need 
hardly say there is little to note of any importance to 




Small Pit used for Forcing the 
Vine. 



422 THE CULTURE 01 THE VINE AT THOMERY. 

the British grape grower, who is certainly in advance of 
all others as regards the indoor culture of this old and ever 
popular fruit. Nevertheless, M. Rose-Charmeux^s garden 
exhibits such an advance on the ordinary style of forcing 
grapes around Paris that it deserves a few words. The 
walls of the pits are of brick ; the highest, towards the 
north, measures about five feet in height ; the front 
wall being only about two feet high. The width of the 
hothouse at its base between the walls is about four 
feet six inches, and the length indefinite. The higher wall 
is covered on the top with a deal board a foot wide and 

Fig. 242. 




Small span-roofed house for forcing the Vine : ten feet five inches wide, 
and five feet five inches high. 

projecting towards the south; the lower wall is covered in 
the same way with a board five inches wide. The walls 
ought to be rough cast, and kept perfectly white like those 
of the gardens. Bars of iron serve as supports to the frames, 
and to keep the walls in their places when the frames 
are taken away, and rods provided with holes are placed 
in the middle of each frame so that they may be opened to 
difierent heights according to circumstances. A copper 
hotwater pipe, four inches in diameter, serves to warm the 
structure, and an entrance-door is constructed at each end. 
Grape forcing begins from the 15th to the 25th of December, 
in order to have ripe fruit by the end of April. During 



THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AT THOMERY. 423 



the first fortnight the heat is not allowed to rise 
above from 58° F. to 65° F. The fortnight after it is 
allowed to rise to 78° F. or 80° F._, from which time until 
the grapes are ripe the heat is maintained at from 80° F. 
to 88° F. The time of flowering requires a great deal of 
attention, for on it depends entirely the success of the 
result. In order that fecundation should take place under 
the most favourable circumstances, and that the grapes 
should be well formed, it is absolutely necessary that the 
temperature should be maintained between 78° F. and 
88° F. ; also that the vine should have plenty of light 
and dry air/^ 

The low span-roofed house is constructed in the following 
manner : — On the east and west are built two small brick 
walls twenty-eight inches high, and in the centre of the 
enclosed space are placed strong posts about five feet high, 
and distant from each other about three feet. A plank 
fourteen inches wide, nailed on the top of these posts, ties 
them together solidly and forms a sort of coping. This 
plank is covered with sheet zinc, and bars of iron are carried 
from it to the walls serving as supports to the lights. At 
each end a door is constructed for the attendants to go in 
and out, and on each side is a thermometer for regulating 
the temperature. The interior of the hothouse is about 
ten feet wide at the base, so that the rows of vines are 
distant from the side walls about eighteen or twenty inches, 
and one side gets the efifect of the sun in the morning, 
the other in the afternoon. Two rows of pulleys are at- 
tached to the wooden coping for working the straw mats, 
which ought to be taken off every morning and replaced in 
the evening.''^ 

Thus M. Hose-Charmeux speaks of his forced culture of 
the vine. In addition to the houses here figured and al- 
luded to he employs a well constructed portable lean-to 
house — portable because the French yet believe in the 
virtue of the plan of alternately forcing and resting their 
trees, a system which we have long ago proved to be 
worthless. 



424 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE IMPERIAL FRUIT AND FORCING GARDENS AT VERSAILLES. 

THE NEW FRUIT GARDEN OF THE CITY OF PARIS IN THE 

BOIS DE VINCENNES. 

♦ 

The imperial fruit and forcing gardens at Versailles form a 
large establishmentj not so costly nor nearly so fine as 
Frogmore,, but containing a few things novel and instructive 
to the English visitor. Generally the crops do not display 
the high cultivation nor the surface the rapid rotation to be 
seen in the market gardens round Paris,, but in the culture 
of hardy fruits there is something to admire. It is a forcings 
culinary^ and fruit garden solely, therefore there are few 
pot plants to be seen, the houses being nearly all devoted to 
the pine- apple. Some years ago the culture of this fruit 
was considered by some of our gardening authorities to be 
better understood in France than in England ; but though 
very fine pines are grown in the neighbourhood of Paris^ 
our pine growers are on the whole the best. Such growers 
of the pine-apple as Mr. James Barnes of Bicton^ Mr. 
David Thompson, Mr. Hose at Frogmore, and many other 
English gardeners, aff'ord us the best example of how to 
produce it in the highest degree of perfection. The forcing 
department is usually well-ordered and neat so far as the 
more permanent houses go. In them the back walls may 
be seen very prettily covered with the two well-known 
Vincas, alba and rossea. To cover the walls of all kinds of 
glass-houses devoted to ornamental purposes is an object 
with most people who possess such things. It is very rarely 
well accomplished, mostly from using a bad selection of 
vigorous growing plants, which often get covered with insect 
filth, and become a capital breeding place for it, or perhaps 
never yield flowers. If anybody possessing a stove_, pine- 



THE IMPERIAL FRUIT AND FORCING GARDENS. 425 



house^ or intermediate house, or any other warm structure 
with a back walk and a border against it, will plant in it 
and train against the wall the two pretty subjects named 
above, plaat for plant, the result will prove strikingly 
pretty. The plants are always glossy and full of flower, 
may be kept at two feet or allowed to grow six feet high, 
and are always free from insects or vermin of any 
kind. They keep neatly to the wall with but little trouble, 
and bloom all over the surface, top as well as bottom. 
They are in this state very useful for cuttings and the effect^ 
when you enter the house, is of the most pleasing kind. 
Their culture in this way is far more satisfactory than in pots, 
and in almost every warm stove or forcing house in France 
you see them trained against the back walls. The system 
of forcing grapes and early vegetables in very small rough 
frames is extensively practised here. 

The fruit gi'owing department is undergoing a gradual 
and complete alteration, especially as regards the choicer 
Pears trained as espaliers. So satisfactory is the system 
adopted, that I am certain if English cultivators gene- 
rally could get an idea of its excellence it would lead to a 
revolution in our fr^uit culture, and a great improvement in 
the appearance of our gardens. I know of no way whereby 
we may so highly improve the garden culture of the Pear 
than by paying more attention to it as an espalier tree. This 
is also the opinion of many of the best fruit growers in 
Britain, who agree that there is no finer fruit than that 
gathered from well-managed espalier trees. It is well 
known that some pears lose quality by being grown against 
walls. It is equally certain that a fuller degree of sun and 
exposure than the shoots and fruit get on a pyramidal tree is 
very desirable in many parts of this country, especially for 
particular kinds. Many sorts grow beautifully as pyramids ; 
others, to be had in perfection, must be grown upon walls ; 
but by means of the improved espalier system the majority 
of the finer kinds may be grown to the highest excellence. 
If the Prench can teach us nothing else they can certainly 
give us a lesson as to the improvement in appearance, 
cheapness^ and utility of the espalier mode of growing 



426 



THE IMPERIAL ERUIT AND 



fruit_, especially as regards tlie finer varieties of Pear 
trees. 

It should be borne in mind that the good opinion of espalier 
trees given by British cultivators has been won by them under 
great disadvantages^ for nothing can be uglier or more ineffi- 
cient than the usual mode of supporting and training espaliers 
in our gardens. It is generally so costly and disagreeable to 
the eye^ that it has been done away with for these reasons 
alone in many gardens. I know some important ones near 
London, and indeed in many parts of Britain, where the 
espalier support is the most unworkmanlike and discredit- 
able affair to be seen in the place. Great rough uprights 
of wood, which soon rot and wabble out of position, thick 
and costly bolt-like wire, cumbrous and expensive construc- 
tion, and, in a word, so many disadvantages as would suffice 
to prevent the prudent cultivator from attempting anything 
of the kind. The form of tree used, too, is such that the 
lower branches become impoverished, and often nearly useless. 

To support his espalier fruit trees the Emperor^s gar- 
dener, M. Hardy, has largely adopted a system which is at 
once cheap, neat, and almost everlasting. Instead of em- 
ploying ugly and perishable wooden supports he erects up- 
rights of T-iron, and connects these with slender galvanized 
wire. These are tightened with the little raidisseurs before 
alluded to, and then there is an end of all trouble. He 
manages to erect this trellising nine feet high for less 
than a shilling a yard run; but it could not be done 
so cheaply in smaller quantities. Then, instead of adopt- 
ing the common form of espalier tree, with horizontal 
branches, he more frequently uses trees of which each 
branch ascends towards the top of the trellis, and thus 
secures an equable flow of sap through the tree. The 
accompanying figure (243) will give a better idea of both 
trellis and tree than any description. There is no more 
important matter connected with our fruit culture than this 
very point, and therefore I should be much obliged to all 
my readers, both amateur and professional, if they will give 
the subject attention, as I am sure that by doing so they 
will be led to largely adopt it^ and much improve their fruit 



FORCING GARDENS AT VERSAILLES. 



427 



culture. The finest stores of pears I have ever seen were in 
gardens with a good length of tree trained in this manner ; 
and I know few places in France where the espalier 
system is so extensively and so well carried out as here. 
The form here represented is much better than the cordon 
or single- branched Pear tree^ because a more free and 
natural development is allowed to the tree, and at the same 
time the trellis is covered quickly, and a considerable variety 



Fia. 243. 




Trellis for Pear Trees : ten feet higli. Uprights and stays of T-iron, horizontal 
lines slender galvanized wire ; vertical lines, pine-wood half an inch square 
and painted green : to these the ascending branches are trained. 

of fruit may be obtained from a small space. It is very 
extensively adopted by M. Hardy, upon walls as well as on 
the neat and elegant trellis, of which he has constructed so 
much. Of course the Palmette Verrier, the fan, or any 
other form, may be trained on these trellises, but decidedly 
the best are such as combine the advantages of quick 
covering and early productiveness claimed for the cordon, 
and the fuller development and more pleasing appearance 



428 



THE IMPERIAL FRUIT AND 



of the larger forms. It should be borne in mind that 
planting erect cordons close together^ as they must be 
planted^ involves a great expense which is avoided by 
using trees of a fuller development. It takes a good many 
years to form the large style of tree usually adopted^ 
and therefore I advise the general planting of these inter- 
mediate forms. 

Nothing can be neater alongside garden walks than lines 
such as these trained on the trellis alluded to. There is 
no shaking about of rough irons or wooden beams^ no 
falling down or loosening of the wires ; the fruit is firmly 
attached and safe from gales^ the wood is fully exposed, 
and the trellis when well covered forms an elegant dividing 
line in a garden. The best way to place them is at from 
three to six feet from the edge of the walk, and if in the 
space between the espalier and the walk a line of the cor- 
dons elsewhere recommended be established; the effect and 
result will prove very good indeed In some cases where 
large quantities of fruit are required, it may be desirable to 
run them across the squares at a distance of fifteen or 
eighteen feet apart. The principle is quite simple, the proof 
of which is that the trellises at Versailles were erected 
by the garden workmen. M. Hardy, the head gardener at 
Versailles, is the son of the celebrated writer on fruit trees 
of that name, and has had much experience in fruit growing. 
" These trellises,^'' says he, ^' are the cheapest as well as the 
most ornamental that we have yet succeeded in making, 
and the trees which I plant against them are of the form 
that I prefer to all others, for promptly furnishing walls 
and trellises, and for yielding a great number of varieties in 
a comparatively restricted space.^^ The mode of employing 
the uprights of pine wood painted green and reaching from " 
the top of the trellis to within six inches of the ground, is 
not a common one, though very desirable where the erect 
way of training the shoots is practised. The reader will 
readily perceive that this system combines the advantages of 
the cordon and the large tree. Of course many other 
forms, or any form, may be used with this system of trel- 
lising, with slight modifications to suit different kinds of 



FORCING GARDENS AT VERSAILLES. 



429 



trees or different forms. The double trellis shown is simply 
a modification of the preceding, and is not only desirable 
where space is limited_, but also for its economy, for one set of 
uprights supports the two sets of wires simply by using cross 




bits of iron about eighteen inches long, and at the desired 
distance apart. However, the engraving (fig. 244) shows 
this at a glance. 

The Pear as a low cordon is found to succeed very badly, 
and to plant it as an oblique cordon at fifteen or eighteen 



430 



THE IMPERIAL FRUIT AND 



inclies apart is considered mucli too close and very nnwise. 
A white wall fourteen feet higli covered with Easter Beurre 
Pears was very fine indeed. The trees were mostly on the 
Quince stock, a few on the Pear, but all bore equally well. 
They were all trained in the five-branched form usually 
adopted here, and had almost covered the tall white wall. 
The fruit-growing foreman insisted very strongly on the 
necessity of having white walls for fruit trees, and stated 
that dark ones injured both fruit and leaves, while white 
ones benefited both. White walls, apparently well lime- 
washed every year, are to be found in every good establish- 
ment, whether for peach, grape, or other wall fruit 
culture. The Easter Beurre may be seen here double-worked 
on the Cure. On one wall the trees are established and in 
good bearing; on another they had been budded last year 
only. The Cure is first grafted on the Quince and allowed 
to form five vertical branches before it is budded. The 
Easter Beurre is found to do best when double-grafted, 
though the trees directly on the Quince and Pear seemed to 
do well. The naked parts of the stems of fruit trees in this 
garden were in many cases protected from injury from a 
strong sun by being neatly covered with straight straw, 
tied with willow twigs. Neatly done, it seemed better 
than the commoner plan of placing slates or boards before 
them. Brackets to support straw mats in spring are placed 
on every wall at a little more than a yard apart. 

There are a great many old and worn-out trees in the 
garden which have a bad efiect on its appearance here and 
there, but the gradual adoption of the new trellises will 
much improve matters. The Pear makes as strong a growth 
here as I have ever seen it make in Britain, though some 
of our growers are continually saying that quite a different 
and very much more fruitful kind of wood is formed in the 
fine climate of France. There are a few specimens of 
forming letters with trees to be seen here, as in many other 
French gardens. 

When I last visited this garden M. Hardy had commenced 
carrying out a system of protecting his espalier trees. The 
plan is simply to strain lines of galvanized wire above the 



FORCING GARDENS AT TERSAILLES. 



431 



top of the espalier_, so as to form a low span when covered 
with rough canvas. The sides are not covered, but the 
protection at the top is sufficient to prevent 
radiation, and to throw off heavy rains when 245. 
the trees are in bloom. If there is a wall 
running at right angles with the lines of 
espaliers, wires are stretched from it so as ^fif 
to form a light support over each espalier j Section of protec- 
if not, a post is driven in so as to support tio^^ ^sed for Es- 
and stretch the wire in the firmest way. The Versailles, 
lower of these two lines Z^^^^^ ^aay be sup- 
posed to represent the top of the espalier, the upper a line 
firmly supported at a few inches above it. Wires are also 
stretched at each side of this, at about twenty inches from it, so 
as to form the outline of a very low span-roof of strained wire. 
It is a matter of little difficulty to stretch cheap canvas of some 
kind over these wires, letting it be an inch or two narrower 
than the breadth between the outer wires, so that it may be 
strained tight, say a yard for the canvas, and two inches more 
for the wires. The outer margins must of course be firmly 
threaded to the outer wires with twine or any convenient 
tying or rough sewing material. Here they simply use 
the stems of the glaucous or Hard 
Fig. 246. Rush (Juncus glaucus), which grows 

wild all over Britain, and find it 
answer admirably. A neat ridge is 
then arranged over each line of espa- 
liers, which throws off the rain and pre- 
. ^ , vents radiation, thereby savins^ the 

Side view of protection to , „ n . i • • 

double line of Espaliers, bloom from trost and msurmg a crop. 

The protection is put up before the 
buds are liable to be injured, and removed when the 
fruit is set, and all danger has passed away. Thus a 
very cheap and effective protection is secured. The old 
trellising used for fruit growing in these gardens is 
inferior compared to the new. The kinds of pears mostly 
grown here are Easter Beurre, by which several waUs 
are covered ; Duchesse d^Angouleme, of which there 
is a square of trellising in all nearly 600 yards long, and 




432 THE IMPERIAL FRUIT AND FORCING GARDENS. 



about nine feet higli ; Beurre Diel, and Louise Bonne 
d'Avranches. 

The Peach is well-grown and trained in some parts of the 
garden,, a form with five main branches being adopted with 
success. It is analogous to the form used for the pear in 
the same garden^ and is very readily made. 

In addition to the trellises above described^ the most re- 
markable feature of this garden is the presence of a vast 
number of horizontal cordon Apple trees^ both in single 
lines and in superimposed ones of two or three stages^ all 
on galvanized wire. The trees are on the Paradise stock, 
and nearly always confined to a single stem. These trees 



Fig 247. 




Border of Superimposed Cordons at Versailles. 

bore an enormous crop during the year 1868_, but the fine 
apples were nearly all destroyed by the worm. At the end 
of September, the display of fruit was quite remark- 
able, although much had fallen before that period, and the 
year had been too hot for the perfect development of the 
Apple. One border devoted to cordons is 300 metres 
(984 feet) long, and altogether there is 4000 metres of 
cordon apples in the garden. As the greater portion of this 
length is composed of two and three lines of wires placed at 
distances of a foot one above the other, there is really quite 
8000 metres, or more than five miles of horizontal (or 
French) cordon Apple trees on the true Paradise stock, and 



THE NEW FRUIT GARDEN OF PARIS. 



the plantations are being extended as often as circumstances 
will permit. It should be observed that though the cordons 
are often grown in lines one above the other^ one plant does 
not furnish more than 

one line except at the Fio. 248. 

ends. There, however, 
it is necessary to take 
several branches from 
one plant to fur- 
nish the two or three 
lines of wire starting 
from the same post. '^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

HerC; as in many other Section of preceding, 

gardens superintended 

by experienced fruit growers, this mode of Apple growing 
is preferred to any other, but the enormous number 
planted best speaks of the estimation in which it is held. 
The cordons, though generally well-managed, are not quite 
so good as I have seen them elsewhere, and apparently 
from being too closely confined to the main stem. I have 
always noticed them best and most satisfactory when allowed 
to form a free and regular bush of spurs along the stem. 
The soil is as cold, stiff, and disagreeable for fruit culture 
as could well be devoted to that purpose. 

The new Fruit Garden of the City of Paris in the 
Bois de Vincennes. 

Not long since it was determined to make a new school 
of fruit culture for Paris, and in the spring of 1868 
the first trees were planted. Naturally there is but very 
little to be seen as yet ; but, nevertheless, a description of 

j^, it can scarcely fail to be of use. As to plan and arrange- 
ment it is almost identical with that given overleaf, and 
recommended by M. Du Breuil for the north of France. It 

j is situated near the Avenue Daumesnil entrance to the 
Bois de Vincennes. The first thing remarkable about the 
new garden is its walls ; they are of felt, supported on a rough 
wooden framework. The felt is first nailed on frames of 

F F 




434 THE NEW FRUIT GARDEN OF THE CITY OF PARIS 



Fig. 249. 




S ^onth. 



Plan of a Fruit Garden for the North of Feance. 
B, Cistern, C, Double espalier for apricots. D, West side of walis planted with oblique cordon 
pear trees, 16 inches apart, E, Gooseberries, F, East side of wall, planted with peach trees as 
simple cordons, 16 inches apart. G, Cherries as oblique cordons, 16 inches apart, H, Plum 
trees, trained in like manner, I, Hedge. J, Summer pears, as vertical cordons on espaliers. 
K, Raspberries, cultivated at the foot of the wall. M, Wall of vines. The borders are surrounded 
by a cordon of apples, planted 7 feet apart, and 12 inches within the margin of the border. The 
black lines show the walls, and N and 0 wii-es stretched from the walls to support the espalier. 



IN THE BOIS DE VINCENNES. 



435 



wood about six feet long by four feet wide^, wliicli are 
dropped into a groove made in the uprights,, the stronger 
framework being based upon a few inches of masonry ; the 
felt is whitened over^ and the whole surmounted by a little 
ridge-like coping. This peculiar form of wall was erected 
in consequence of the objection of the authorities to have 
any walls of solid materials in the neighbourhood, which is 
so near the fort : but this merely helped to prove that in 
cold northern countries we may hope to grow good fruit 
by means of something less expensive than well-made brick 
walls. These walls are about nine feet high, except at the 
north end, where they are more than twelve feet high. 

The garden, which is not a yard larger than is necessary 
for the purpose to which it is devoted, is in two divisions — 
one to illustrate the practical and profitable culture of fruit for 
market, the other all the important modes of fruit culture, 
the various curious and useful forms of wall and standard 
trees, and, in a word, most things necessary to know con- 
cerning the subject. The division devoted to illustrate the 
mode of culture best calculated to aifford a quick and certain 
return is planted almost entirely with the finest of all winter 
Pears, Easter Beurre, and that well-known Apple the 
Calville Blanc, one of the best of all Apples for either dessert 
or culinary uses. The Pears are all cordons, either planted 
against walls or espaliers, and the Apples are all the low 
horizontal cordon, the form I have so often recommended. 
The most valuable and excellent fruits are the only ones 
cultivated. Most of the cordons against the walls are 
oblique (thus, ////), except at the high end wall, where 
they are vertical. The Professor's reason for adopting this 
form, is that the walls are more readily covered by it, and 
a much quicker return obtained ; and of course he thinks 
these advantages compensate for the expense of planting so 
closely, or any other objection that may be urged against 
the system. Between three and four thousand trees of 
Easter Beurre, and the same number of Calville Blanc, are 
planted here in this small garden. The trees have done 
very poorly indeed, having been planted too late, and it is 
to be feared many of them will die, so that much in the 

F r 2 



436 THE NEW mUIT GARDEN OF THE CITY OE PARIS 



Fig. 250, 



way of healthy and fertile specimens will not be seen for 
some years. 

One thing cannot fail to strike the British visitor who 
takes an interest in fruit growing, and to give him a valu- 
able lesson at the same time ; precautions to protect the 
trees effectually from wet and frost are taken, which are 
never seen or thought of in British gardens. All round 
the walls iron brackets project from immediately beneath 
the permanent wooden coping, to receive wide copings made 
of felt nailed on a cheap wooden framework, in lengths 
about six feet long and over two wide. These are slipped in 
under the short permanent coping, and rest on the bracket, 

the hooked point of which holds 
them in position. A small eye 
is at the under side of each, so 
as to thoroughly fix the coping 
by attaching each length with 
a piece of wire to another eye 
near the upper portion of the 
wall. Thus a most effective and 
excellent protection is afforded 
the delicate blossoms and fruit 
This is against the 
the British cul- 
a 

little trouble to protect his 
trees from the cold rains and 
frosts of the budding and flowering season. Equal care is 
taken to protect the espalier trees — a thing which has never 
yet been attempted by British fruit growers, who, however, 
are not slow to contrast the difficulties they have to contend 
against with those of the French, for whom of course the 
climate is said to do everything. The protection for the 
espaliers is afforded by iron rods projecting from the top of 
the pine posts that are used to support the double espa- 
liers, and running through them are six lines of galvanized 
wire, forming a sort of span over the trees. A little above 
these wires runs a stronger one, connecting the posts 
beneath it, and resting on the lower wu'es are two lines of 




Galvanized iron bracket, more than 

two feet wide, for supporting a spring, 
temporary coping of bituminized walls whcrC 
felt. A wire passes through at . . , 

A for supporting curtains, where tivator occasionally takes 
these are necessary. 



IN THE BOIS DE VINCENNES. 



437 



neat thin frames of straw, eacli at least a yard wide. These 
are firmly fixed down to the wires, so that in spring the 
trees are placed nnder what may be called a neatly- thatched 

Fig. 251. 




Prnit tree in the Vase form, — one of many forms more curious than useful. 
A, Stake ; B, B, Crossed sticks to sustain hoop in position. To form a 
handsome tree of this kind, eighteen or twenty branches are required. 

shed. No doubt some other material would look better 
than the straw, but it is cheap, and when nailed firmly 
between laths does not look untidy ; and, moreover, it is 
the object of the place to show the cheapest as well as the 



438 THE NEW FRUIT GARDEN OF THE CITY OF PARIS 



best modes of protection_, and also the best way of applying 
those most commonly in nse ; and the use of neat straw 
mats for protecting walls is very common in France. Posts 
of pine wood five or six inches in diameter are employed 
to support the espaliers,, because they are cheap ; and^ to 

Fia. 252. 




Pear trained in Vase form, with the branches crossed. The branches are 
grafted by approach where they cross each other, and the tree rendered 
self-supporting. It is somewhat better than the preceding form, and as 
easy to make. 

secure their durability, they are thoroughly satui'ated with 
blue vitriol before being erected. This is a cumbrous 
and bad plan^ the kind of fruit trellises employed at Ver- 
sailles being neater, more durable, and in every way so 
superior that I am astonished that anybody who has seen 



IN THE BOIS DE VINCENNES. 



489 



the Versailles trellises could think of erecting such things as 
these. 

In the garden devoted to teaching purposes only, all the 
lines which the branches of the wall trees are to pursue 
when fully formed are indicated by small rattan canes — 
accurately placed^ so that as the tree grows the trainer has 
no hesitation as to the exact position each branch should 
take_, but merely has to attach it to the rods so definitely 
laid down. The larger trees against the walls are mostly 
those I have figured as the Palmette Verrier. This is how- 
ever occasionally trained " double/'' that is, it has two vertical 
stems instead of one. Useless as well as desirable forms are 
shown ; for instance, trees formed like a goblet, with the 
branches crossed or ascending vertically, or sometimes like a 
goblet reversed. These are all useless for practical purposes, 
though they may serve to amuse an amateur ; who, however, 
would do better to amuse himself with trees more beautiful, 
productive, and easy to train. The way of making a hedge 
of Pears — a hedge that when once made, and with its 
branches crossed and intertwined, will support itself — is also 
shown ; and without doubt neat and productive screens may 
thus be made in any garden, and the trees kept quite as 
neatly as if supported by expensive trellising. Altogether 
the place will prove an instructive one after a few years to 
the British visitor, and particularly in convincing him of 
the necessity of protecting our finer wall fruits ; but as a 
fruit garden it is quite unworthy of the city. There are 
amateurs^ gardens about Paris better arranged and more 
instructive than this, specially designed to illustrate fruit 
culture in the capital of La Belle Prance, " the orchard of 
Europe V Such was my impression when I visited it in 
September, 1868. 



440 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 

The finest supplies of Peaclies for the Paris market do not 
come, as perhaps many would suppose, from the sunny 
south or the balmy west, but from within a few miles of 
Pans, where they have to be grown on walls furnished with 
good copings, and receive in every way careful protection 
and culture. Approaching Montreuil the country is seen 
covered with good crops of vegetables and fruit to the tops 
of the pretty, low hills in the neighbourhood. All the crops, 
however, are divided into small plots, showing how each 
person has his own little portion, and has it moreover for 
ever if he so chooses — land being bought and sold here as 
simply as an overcoat is in England. But getting nearer 
still to the village, a great number of white walls, about 
eight or nine feet high, are seen, enclosing rather small 
squares of land, and almost entirely devoted to the Peach. 
As the walls are netted over many acres in some parts, the 
eflect is curious when you look over them from a distance. 
In the squares are small fruit trees and all sorts of garden 
crops. To the visitor who takes a general look at the plan- 
tations here, it is quite apparent that it is not to the climate 
that the best growers owe their success. Among the two 
hundred and fifty cultivators having Peach gardens here, 
there are many with very shabby -looking trees on the walls, 
while those in some of the best gardens are perfect models 
of health, fertility, and skilful training. It will be seen by a 
glance at the cuts that the French mode of pruning the Peach 
tree is quite different from ours, inasmuch as they always 
aim at securing straight, well-formed, well-furnished, and 
equidistant branches, and always spur in the shoots rather 
closely in spring. The cuts showing their mode of pruning, 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 441 



disbudding, covering bare spaces on the stem, &c., scattered 
throughout this chapter, fully explain the regular and close- 
pruning French system — any garden wall with a Peach tree 
will illustrate our own. 




Fig. 257 shows a shoot that on its first pruning was cutback to 
four or five inches^ bore two good fruit, and furnished four shoots . 



442 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTKEUIL. 



How these are to be dealt with is explained in the illustration^ 
and all other important operations in those that follow it. 

The garden of M. Chevallier is less extensive than that 
of the better known M. Lepere, but certainly displays 
examples of cultivation not anywhere to be surpassed ; and 
no person interested in fruit-growing should visit the town 
without seeing it. The first impression is very good, for the 
outer side of the walls is covered with admirable specimens 
of Peach trees, the narrow strip forming the border in which 



Fig. 254. Fig. 255. 




Leaf of Peach Tree attacked by the Peach Shoot attacked by 

Cloque, a disease caused by sudden Cloque. 
cold at the commencement of 
vegetation. 

they are planted being cut off from the road-side by a 
fragile fence covered with vines. To merely walk along this 
wall, without entering the garden at all, would repay the 
visitor, so perfect are the trees in health, bearing, and 
training. Overhead is a permanent coping of plaster, and 
immediately beneath it, and at intervals of three or four feet, 
the spokes of old wheels project eighteen inches; on these 
are placed the temporary copings of boards or mats in spring 
in this very paradisiacal climate. In the garden the same 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 443 



Fig. 256. 



admirable culture everywhere prevails. The walls are as 
white as snow^ — they are whitewashed every year_, with a 
view to the extermination of insects, — and the trees are of 
the brightest and healthiest green — quite a pleasure to look 
upon. The knuckle end of the leg-bone of a sheep projects 
from the wall, at intervals of a couple of inches only, and 
at about a foot and a half from the top of the wall. These 
are placed so as to firmly fix the temporary coping in 
spring. The boards or neat frames of straw are placed be- 
neath the permanent coping and on the supports. The space 
between coping and brackets being very narrow, there is 
considerable support afforded the temporary 
covering, especially at the back part; by at- 
taching an eye to its under surface, and 
firmly tying it with a twig of osier, wire, or 
strong twine, to the bone projecting so neatly 
and firmly below, it is perfectly secured 
from all danger of removal by winds. The 
cold rains which occur during the several 
months while the trees are in bud and flower, 
and all the time the shoots and newly formed 
fruit are tender, run off the plaster coping 
on to the temporary one, and from it safe 
beyond the trees, while radiation and conse- 
quently frost are effectually prevented from 
doing harm. 

To suppose that this thoughtful protection is 
merely necessary for the flowers and to secure fruit is a fallacy; 
a little temporary coping is improvised here even over quite 
young trees without a fruit on them, simply to guard their 
leaves in spring from the maladies consequent upon the 
extreme cold and many vicissitudes of the French climate at 
that season. This extemporized coping is simply formed by 
placing little wooden brackets against the wall at about four 
feet from the ground, and placing thereon a thin rough 
board. Such a thing is never thought of in England, where 
there is of course quite as much necessity for it. The effect 
of the sun on the stem and larger branches of the tree is 
also guarded against, pieces of bark or boards being placed 




Small Wooden 
Coping used to 
protect young 
Peach Trees in 
spring. 



444 THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 



before the short bole or base of the tree, the main branches 
on the upper parts being carefully shaded by training over 
them the young branches of the current yearns wood. 

The black marks seen on the white walls are lines 
which the main branches of the trees are to follow. In 

some cases they are quite 
Fig. 257. simple vertical or horizon- 

tal lines, according as the 
form to be attained may 
require; in other places 
they form crowns, eagles, 
initial letters, flourishes, 
&c. j for though the culti- 
vator generally prefers sim- 
ple and definite forms, he 
is also proud of his skill in 
overcoming difficulties of 
training, and shows it by 
these curiously and very 
successfully trained trees 
against his walls. M. 
Chevallier is, however, a 
younger cultivator than M. 
Lepere, and has not his 
curiosities in this way per- 
fect as yet, but there is 
every sign that his fancy 
trees will be even more 
elaborate and remarkable 
than those of M. Lepere. 
It is only just to state that 
these elaborately - trained 
trees bear freely and well ; 
but except for curiosity^s sake or for show, they should 
not be attempted. 

Branches of trees like that in Fig. 253, fifteen feet long, 
were three inches higher at the apex than at the base, a difie- 
rence which scarcely removed them from the horizontal posi- 
tion, and yet sufficed to give an easy ascent to the sap, and 




Second Pruning of Fruiting Peach Branch. 
F is cut at J) above two wood-buds to 
furnish shoots for the following year ; 
B remains to carry the fruit, and the 
shoot is cut at A. Cut E would only 
be applied if shoot B did not bear 
flower-buds. 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 445 



prevent all tendency of tlie branch to shoot vigorously from 
any point near the base^ as is sometimes the case with the 
branches when placed exactly in the horizontal position. 
Apart from this^ the growing point of each main branch is 
allowed to push freely a little upward s^ so as to encourage the 
sap to flow regularly through the branch, and not halt at any 
one point to the detriment of all. Grafting by approach is 
practised to cover naked branches. Four to five hundred 
fruit are gathered from the best trees, or an average of about 
ten fruit per metre of fruiting branch. Cheap and rather 
thin planks, about twenty inches wide, are preferred for the 
temporary coping ; walls twelve feet high would be bene- 
fited by a few inches more. Cor- 
dons of Calville Blanc and other 258. 
fine Apples are planted plentifully 
on the spaces between the trees ; 
no matter how well the walls 
are covered, there is always space 
for cordon trees between them, in 
consequence of the branches having 
a very gradual upward inclination. 
M. Chevallier''s garden is one of 
the most interesting and instructive 
I have ever seen, and the trees in 

it are models of beauty and of "^ode of preserving the Lower 
p , . . . Part of the Stems from the 

perfect trammg. heat of the Sun. 

We will next visit the garden of 

M. Lepere. It is large, and consists simply of a series of oblong 

spaces which are surrounded by Peach walls, both walls and 

ground being well covered and cropped — neat, clean, and 

in all respects satisfactory. The Peach is the favourite 

subject, but neat pyramidal and cordon Pear and Apple 

trees are also to be seen, and the place is altogether 

many degrees above the ordinary type of French fruit or 

kitchen gardens. There are two entrances to M. Lepere's 

establishment, and it may not be amiss to say that the finer 

examples of cultivation are those nearest the one approached 

by a narrow lane-like road, which is margined on each side 

by Peach walls. Outside the entrance of the walls there 




446 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 



is a small corner of ground, where against a wall may be 
seen several capital examples of Peacli trees, the finest being 
trained after what is called the Carre form. This is much 
admired by the best cultivators, but they prefer and gene- 
rally adopt the Palmette forms, and say they are the best. 
The Candelabrum form is also to be seen in fine condition in 



Fig. 259. 




Fruiting Brancli of Peach submitted to the third year's pruning. D, which 
has borne the fruit of the past year, is cut at A ; the wood-buds below F 
will furnish fruiting shoots for the following year ; and C bear the fruit 
of the coming summer. 

this out-of-the-way nook ; it is simply trained by raising 
vertical branches from horizontal ones running along near 
the bottom of the wall. But as to the form itself, it is not 
a matter of so much importance — the two chief points are 
covering the walls and the treatment of the fruiting branch. 
Yet it is interesting to notice the forms adopted by the 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MOXTREUIL. 447 



most successful growers^ who, liowever, are sure to have 
several trees most fantastically trained. They wiU tell you 
that form is not a matter of so much consequence, but, 
nevertheless, certain forms are preferred, and certain prin- 
ciples strictly adhered to. 

A very old man, dressed in a blouse, is moving along the 
walls nailing in the shoots here and there, and with him a 
dozen young men, his pupils. This is M. Lepere, who has 
a class twice a week. Incidentally I may say that the 

Fig. 260. Fig. 261. 



/ 




Pruninsc to replace old fruit-spnr : E^snlt of the precedina: operation. B is 
wood-buds are developed at the cut at C ; E bears fruit, and G wood- 
base, anl all the shoots are cut buds; and thus the spur is renewed, 
sharp olF, as at A. 

principle of giving a full explanation of their system of 
doing anything well, animates all French gardeners more 
or less. Did anybody ever hear of an unusually successful 
English market gardener or fruit grower calling a class 
round him at a low fee, or no fee at ail? The French, 
though proud of their success in this way, are careful to 
give it the fullest possible ventilation ; and those who attend 
here cannot fail to learn the culture of the Peach as well as 
need be, if so disposed, for the master glides along the wall, 
and stops and nails in the shoots, and cuts out the foremost 



THE PEACH GARDENS OE MONTREUIL. 449 



branches here and there that are not wanted for next yearns 
work ; and^ in short, does and explains everything before his 
pupils. He has been cultivating Peaches here for a couple 
of generations, and certainly has reason to be proud of the 
result. He inquired as to the state of gardening in England, 
and I told him we could beat him in most things, but not 
with the Peach, and that he was indisputably the Emperor 
of Peach-growers. 

Entering the garden, your eye for a moment rests upon 
the perfectly-covered walls, but presently the famous Napo- 



FiG. 263. 




Peach Trees trained to form their Owner's Name against Garden Wall. 



leon Peach presents itself. It is in good health, but looks 
a little weak about the central letters. It is, I need scarcely 
add, beautifully trained, and a striking evidence of what 
may be done by a skilful pruning. Looking in another 
direction another specimen quite dilferent from the Xapoleon 
presents itself, and it takes the form of the letters of the 
owner^s name — LEPERE. It is against a high and very 
white wall, and at a long distance the letters stand out 
quite clearly, while, upon approaching the tree^ the 
abundance of fruit and regularity of good wood are equally 
satisfactory. The letters complete, a shoot is taken from 

G G 



i 



450 THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 

the top of esich, and these are united in a somewhat arching 
line above,, and spread out again into a crown over 
the name^ while on each side a single tree springs up^ and, 
forming a border for the letters, spreads out above into a 
triple flourish on each side of the crown. It is a finer object 
than the Napoleon, and bears a splendid crop. The sketch 
gives but a very poor idea of the beauty of the tree, which 
I by no means figure here by way of recommending it or 
similar curious forms, but simply to show the mastery at- 
tained over the trees. Such a fanciful form is interesting 
in a great Peach garden, where the grower wishes to show 
his skill, but is useless for private gardens or for general 
purposes. It should be added that the formation of the 
LEPERE was much easier than that of the NAPOLEON 
tree, inasmuch as a plant is devoted to every letter in the 
former. 

The well-made walls all run east and west, and are placed 
within about ten yards of each other. This proximity of 
the walls makes the scene quite difierent from what we have 
in England. It is done so that many walls may be accom- 
modated on a comparatively small space, and they are also 
effective in concentrating the heat and for sheltering. The 
ground is thus divided into very long narrow strips, the white 
walls covered with the fresh green of healthy Peach trees, and 
the ground planted with fruit trees. Strawberries, and Aspa= 
ragus. The soil is of a calcareous nature, and the long 
strips enclosed by the walls are generally about fourteen yards 
across. The syringe is rarely or never used, sulphur being 
the remedy for spider. The ground was in all cases mulched 
near the trees, a wide alley being left ; and for preparation 
of the border they simply trench and manure the ground a 
couple of feet deep, and about six feet wide. The trees are 
pruned on the spur system, and as for their shapes, they are 
many, in addition to the alphabetical ones alluded to above. 
The Taille en Candelabre is one of the handsomest and most 
useful. To form it two branches are taken to the right and 
left along near the bottom of the wall. From the uppermost, 
single shoots are taken at regular intervals to the top of the 
wall — the lower branch simply running along to the end and 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 451 



rising to the top of the wall, or in other words, forming a 
great oblong frame for the interior. Then there is the Taille 
a la Montreuil, a sort of fan-tail, but with the divisions some- 
what far from the base in most cases, and several modifica- 
tions of the common horizontal mode of training, which we 
employ so much for the Pear, but never for the Peach. These 
seem favourite varieties, and by their means the walls are 
perfectly covered — if indeed one can draw any distinction 



Fig. 264. 




Spring aspect of Fruit Garden formed in North Germany by M. Lepere fils, 
on the same plan as the best gardens at Montreuil. 



between the walls here, which are all as fresh-looldng as a 
meadow in May. 

A form presenting the advantage of the cordon, without 
its too confined and unnatural development, is very common. 
It is properly termed the U, bearing a considerable resem- 
blance to that letter much elongated. Frequently this is 
doubled, and a tree with four ascending branches obtained. 
These forms are excellent for poor ground, or that in which 
the Peach grows with but little vigour. The number of 
fruit borne by the finer examples of trees here rusn from 



452 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 



four to five hundred, and this without injuring the tree in 
the least degree. As to the pinching of the summer shoots 
after they are laid in, it is done according to their strength ; 
but the greater number are pinched at from six to ten 
inches, and the lateral branches that spring from these are 
of course pinched also, while weak shortish branches are 
allowed to grow to their full extension. The pruning is 
distinct from ours in this : it is done on the spur, and not 
on the cutting-out principle. We generally leave the shoots 



Fig. 265. 



Fig. 266. 




Mode of Pruning to cover bare 
spaces on the branches of 
Peach trees, first year. The 
shoots arising from the buds 
A, B, C, and D are allowed 
to grow freely, and are nailed 
in during the summer. 



Result of preceding operation, second year. 
A, B, C, D are the shoots developed from 
the buds to which the same letters refer in 
the preceding figure. This figure shows 
the appearance of the branches before the 
pruning. 



of the past year long, and cut away a good deal of the old 
wood ; here the branches are conducted in straight lines 
and regularly spurred in every year, fruit and wood buds 
being left at the base according to the judgment of the 
cultivator. The wood of the current year is laid in against 
the wall with nails and shreds just in our own way, only 
thicker, as of course must be the case when a close array of 
spurs along each shoot has to be obtained. There can be 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 453 



little doubt that this system is better than our own, and 
perfectly suited for our wants, provided we take care to 
protect the young shoots and flowers in spring, as common 
sense directs. 

In passing along by the walls, grafting by approach may 
be seen in operation here and there, with the object of 
covering naked spots, strengthening shoots, and even adding 
a young shoot to the base of an old spur that has become 
too long. An interesting example of its utility was shown 



Fia. 267. 




Summer management of tlie Peacli. 
The shoots above the fruit are re- 
tained and stopped, A, A removed, 
and the two lower shoots furnish 
the fruiting wood for the following 
year. 



Fig. 268. 




Shoot of Peach without Fruit : the 
branches A, which would have been 
retained had the shoot borne a crop, 
become useless, and the shoot B is 
cut at C to favour the development 
of D, D, which will be the fruiting 
branches of the following year. 



by the outer branch of a tree. It is considered very 
desirable that the lower and outer branch of a Palmette 
Verrier should be the strongest and highest of all, so as to 
secure a flow of sap to the lower parts of the trees, instead 
of allowing it to flow rapidly towards the higher parts, and 
thus spoil all. In one case, one of the outer branches 
was feeble and delicate, and did not seem to push much 
more than to the bend, from whence it ought to have grown 
strong to the top of the wall. A healthy and vigorous 



454 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 



shoot of a neighbouring tree was worked on it by approach, 
and in the course of a single season the desired strength 




was obtained, and the shoot went vigorously to the top of 
the wall. Not only are the pruner^s best precautions taken 
to secure abundance of vigour and sap in the lower parts 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 455 



of the specimen, but slow-growing and not very vigorous 
kinds are grafted a little above the middle of the tree_, 
so as to prevent in the completest manner the tendency 
which the sap has to rush towards the higher points. To 
show the difference between cultivators, it is sufficient to 
mention that M. Lepere considers this precaution indis- 
pensable ; while another distinguished cultivator in the 
same neighbourhood does not practise it at all, but pinches 
the upper shoots and deprives them of leaves when too 
vigorous, and thus preserves the most perfect health in his 



Fig. 270. Fi©. 271. 




Disbudding of the Peach, second year. Disbudding of the Peach, second year. 

C and A are removed; B, B, fur- If no fruit be borne on E, it is cut at 

nish the wood for the following F, leaving G to furnish the fruiting 

year. wood for the following year. 



trees. This repulsion of the sap to the lower parts of the 
trees is also slightly effected by the use of the wide 
temporary coping, which guards against frost and keeps the 
growth down by partly excluding light from the upper 
part of the wall. When it is removed, and when all 
danger of frost is past, the sap has flowed so freely 
into the lower branches that but little trouble is required 
to keep the tree in a perfectly equable state, all parts of 
the wall doing a full amount of work. I noticed some 
walls alongside a road at Montreuil made of blocks of 
plaster two feet long, one foot high, and five inches 



456 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 



tMck, forming a strong and presentable wall. The blocks 
are sold at sixty francs per hundred. The walls are 
about nine feet bigh^ and have a coping of plaster 
six inches wide. Plaster is very cheap in the neigh- 
bourhood, being dug up in quarries quite near to the gardens^ 
and thus it is easy to form a neat and thin projection from 
the ridge of plaster which forms the top of the wall, by 
placing boards underneath till the coping sets. This pro- 
tection is more necessary at the west and south than at the 
east, the cold rains being more feared than frost, and more 
difficult to guard against; for while a narrow coping will 



Fig. 272. 




Grafting hj approach to furnish bare spaces on the main branches of the 
Peach Tree. The second spring after grafting, "when the Graft has 
firmly united, the shoot D is cut at C, and B forms a well-placed shoot. 

save the trees from frost, it is not so effective against 
driving cold rains. A finer crop could not be desired 
than was visible everywhere here on the day of my visit, 
5th July, 1868. It is particularly noticeable that, no matter 
what form of tree is adopted, all the fruiting branches are 
higher at the apex than the base, instead of pursuing the 
horizontal line, as is the case with us. Perhaps to the 
passing visitor some of the trees in their full summer dress 
might appear to have their branches horizontally placed ; 
but even in cases where there is most room for the 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 457 



supposition,, the outer ends of the shoots are several inches 
higher than where they spring from the ascending axis. 

Many cordons are to be seen in abundant bearing in 
the garden, both against the walls and in the open. The 
Cah^lles against the walls were very good, and were 
not always confined to a single line, but were superimposed. 
It is a better plan to confine them to a single stem, allowing 
that to elongate as much as space will permit, that is, if 
the space to be covered is a mere narrow strip of wall, as is 
the case under these Peach trees, and the object be to secure 
a crop of the finest fruit. Some of the Calville and other 
Apples to be seen here on cordons have nut-brown scars 



Fig. 273. 




Multiple Grafting by approach, to furnish bare spaces on the stems of 
Peach Trees. A, A, A, ligatures of Grafts. 



near the apex, showing where the destructive worm has 
been cut out ; by taking it in time the fruit is saved, 
and this attention, which would be ridiculous in the case 
of ordinary fruit, is repaid in the case of the Calville, 
for the very finest specimens of which four francs each 
are sometimes received by the owner of this garden. 
It need hardly be added that this price is for fruit quite 
exceptional both as to appearance and size. There 
are specimens of the Peach trained as cordons bear- 
ing plenty of fruit, but they present few advantages 
in this case that should make them be preferred to 
forms that are more fully developed. It is not with them. 



458 THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 



as with the Apple on the Paradise stocky a union that induces 

a very dwarf development^ 
Fig. 274. "but, on the contrary_,in con- 

sequence of being confined 
to a single stem, they are 
apt to push too vigorously. 
M.Lepere had not a word to 
say in favour of the system. 

The U form is so pretty, 
successful, and generally 
adopted that the following on 
its formation by M. Lepere 
can hardly fail to be useful. 

This graceful form is 
very easy to establish, and 
I strongly recommend it 
to those amateurs who have 
but little wall space to 
devote to Peach-growing. 
Peach trees planted in this 
way afford the means of 
growing a number of varie- 
ties in a small compass, 
and of speedily obtaining a 
well trained tree in full bearing. After having chosen 
healthy trees eighteen months old full of buds at the base, 
they are cut down to within 
eight inches of the graft at the 
time of planting. When the 
first leaves begin to appear, two 
well placed shoots situated about 
six inches above the graft are 
chosen, one on each side of the 
stem. These are intended to 
form the two main branches that 
are afterwards to be trained in 
the U shape. The ends of these 

two branches are then turned . , 

, , - . -Nail Basket used instead of 

directly upwards, care bemg Nail Bag. 




Details of the preceding Figures: C, in- 
cision of bare portion of stem ; D, pre- 
paration of shoot intended to furnish it. 



Fig. 275. 




THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 459 



taken that the extremities are perfectly free^ so that their 
development may not be interfered with. 

" The space to be given in planting when the soil is of the 
best kind is about a yard to each tree^ which will leave 
an interval of eighteen inches between each principal vertical 
branch, thus allowing sufficient room for nailing in the sum- 
mer shoots. When the soil is not so favourable for Peach- 
growing, the trees can be planted 
two yards from each other and Fig. 276. 

trained in the form of the double 
U. In this case, as in the other, 
the principal branches will be 
eighteen inches apart. Three 
years ago I planted on a southern 
aspect some Peach trees in the 
form of the single U. They yield 
on an average one hundred 
Peaches each every year. The 
wall against which they are 
trained is ten feet high, and 
they were in full bearing the 
third year. 

" I give the preference to this 
form over the oblique cordon be- 
cause, the principal branches be- 
ing trained in a perfectly upright 
position, the sap is more equally 
divided amongst the smaller 
shoots, and if a tree or two 
happen to die in a fully formed 
plantation, the place they oc- 
cupy on the wall which thus be- 
comes empty is not shaded by the 

branches of the neighbouring trees. The dead trees can 
therefore be easily replaced by young subjects from the 
nursery. This is a great advantage for amateurs, who 
have not always full grown trees to fill up bare spaces. 
In the oblique form the inclined position which each 
tree is subjected to at the time of coming into leaf, causes 




Peach Tree in the double U form. 
One side is left unfurnished to 
show the practice of marking 
on the walls the outline which 
the tree is to assume before be- 
ginning to train it. 



460 THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTRETJIL. 



Fig. 277. 



a disturbance all along the upper edge of the brancli when 
constant watchfulness of training is not pursued. Besides,, if 
several trees happen to die, and the only trees available 
to replace them are those from the nursery, the place they 
will occupy on the wall will be shaded by the branches of the 
old trees, and the young ones will be injured for want 
of light and air. As I have already said, the U form is 
the most easy to train, the most graceful to the eye, and 
more prolific than the oblique.''-' I have in many parts 
of France seen fine results obtained by trees grown on 
this simple principle. Occasionally the points of trees 

trained in the U and double U 
forms are united by grafting by 
approach. This does not in 
their case seem to be any ad- 
vantage. 

The reason why the Peach 
is so successfally cultivated at 
Montreuil is, that the cul- 
tivators pay thorough and con- 
stant attention to its wants, 
with which a life-long experience 
has made them familiar. The 
trees are at all times well at- 
tended to. I believe that quite 
as good and as certain results 




Peach trained in the Double U form, 

with the points of the branches f , ~^ 
united by grafting. couid DC attamed With the 

Peach in many of the southern 
parts of England and Ireland, particularly if its culture 
were made a speciality of, as it is in France. When 
cultivators devote themselves entirely to a subject, they 
soon learn all its wants, and moreover, attend to them 
at the right moment — a great point. But it is very diffe- 
rent with private gardeners generally, whose hands are 
very full of other matters in spring and early summer, a 
time when the Peach requires much attention ; the 
result being that it is too often neglected for a week or two 
at that season, with a consequent loss of health to the trees. 
There does not seem much help for this in private gardens, 



THE PEACH GARDENS OF MONTREUIL. 461 



and the only hope is that^ by the cropping of the borders as 
elsewhere suggested,, gardeners generally may find it worth 
while to devote more attention to walls than they usually do. 

I think it a matter for regret that public attention has 
been to some extent called away from the many uses and 
advantages of walls in our climate, and that we have made 
no progress in protecting or managing wall trees corre- 
sponding with our advances in other respects. Some persons 
have gone so far as to say that garden walls ought to be 
abolished altogether. One cannot believe that such people 
can ever have seen the excellent results produced by well- 
managed garden walls — results as beautiful as profitable. 
"Why, even if we could erect glass-houses by the economical 
aid of a magic wand, the good fruit-grower would still find 
uses for a large extent of wall surface. As things are at 
present, all should aim at greater success in the protec- 
tion and management of wall trees — a thoroughly practical 
and attainable aim. Our chief want of success now is due to 
not preserving the flowers and tender young leaves from 
the sleet, cold rains, and frost, during the cold and change- 
able spring common to northern France and the British 
Isles. 



482 



CHAPTER XX, 

THE MARKET GARDENS OF PARIS. 

It has been frequently said that the miniite division of 
property in land retards the improvement of agriculture in 
France. It may be so with farming, but it certainly does 
not hold good with market gardens. Those in and around 
Paris are very small, but they are the best and most 
thoroughly cultivated patches of ground I have ever seen. 
Every span of the earth is at work ; and cleanliness, rapid 
rotation, deep culture, abundant food and water to the 
crops — in a word, every virtue of good cultivation — are 
there to be seen. I doubt very much if such good results 
could be obtained by a larger system, and certainly in no 
part of Britain is the ground, whether garden or farm, so 
thoroughly cultivated, or rendered nearly as productive, as in 
these little family gardens, as they may be called, for 
they are usually no larger than admits of the owner''s eye 
seeing the condition of every crop in the garden at once. 
The Paris market gardeners as a class keep to them- 
selves, marry among themselves, and seem content with 
about as much ground as gives occupation to their family. 
They are as a rule a prosperous class. The gardens vary 
in size from one to two, and occasionally three acres, 
are usually walled in and furnished with a cottage, a few 
sheds, and a well. 

In the neighbourhood of our English cities the price of 
ground is high — according to our scale, that around Paris 
is very high indeed. From information gathered on the 
spot, during September last, I may say the rent varies 
from 24/. to 33/. per acre. On entering a market garden 
the tenant has to pay in addition to his rent from 200/. to 



THE MARKET GARDENS OF PARIS. 



463 



600/. for stock, fixtures, &c. It is necessary to dig deep 
to get a return under these conditions ! 

Manure forms a very considerable item in the ex- 
penses of these gardens. One market gardener of the first 



Fig. 278. 




class paid 500 fr. (20/.) a 
month for manure. His 
garden was about three Eng- 
lish acres in extent, which 
is much beyond the average 
size. Manure would appear 
to be dearer than in Lon- 
don, from three to four francs 
per horse being paid for it. 
Five francs a month are paid 
for that of each omnibus 
horse. These being in Paris 
all strong, large, well-nur- 
tured stallions, their manure 
is the more valuable It is 
usually piled in heaps near the entrance to the market 
gardens. Some of the crops are absolutely growing in nothing 
but decomposed manure ; and it is used profusely for every- 
thing. From the beginning of May to the end of Novem- 
ber the market gardeners have no use for hotbeds, and yet 



MM 



Pump used in the Market Gardens 
of Paris. 



464 



THE MARKET GARDENS OF PARIS. 



every day there arrives one or more loads of stable manure^ 
all of whicli is piled into rick-like heaps^ to be used chiefly in 
winter and spring. In November they commence to make 
the hotbeds, and as hot dung arrives every day they mix 
with it that which has been gathered during the summer — 
thus insuring beds giving a moderate degree of heat. 

But a more important and expensive item is the watering. 
The Parisian market gardener,, if not a scientific man, would 
appear to be fully aware of the fact that by far the most 
important constituent of vegetables is water. As a rule, the 
less of this they contain the worse they are. It is owing to 
the abundant watering of the market gardens, more espe- 
cially than to anything else, that the Paris markets are in 
all sorts of seasons and summers better supplied with 

crisp, fresh, and delicious vege- 
Fia. 279. tables than those of any other capital 

in Europe. Every market garden 
has its pump worked by the horse 
of the establishment— the Naudin 
system being generally preferred. 
From this the water is con- 
ducted into old barrels nearly 
, , plunged to their rims in the 

Watering-potused by the Market , , i • , t 

Gardeners of Paris. ground at regular intervals over 
the garden, and from these 
barrels distributed by watering pots. These are always 
of copper — the best I saw being flat-sided and oblong 
instead of round-bodied. The handle springs clean from 
the top to the back of the vessel, so that when filled 
and carried by the workman to the spot he wishes to water, 
he merely has to pitch the pots (he always uses two at a 
time) forward a little and let his hands fall back, so as to 
hold the pot in the position which most favours the pouring 
out of the water. The pipe being very wide, and the rose 
broad and freely perforated with large holes, the water is 
discharged almost in an instant, and the workman again 
proceeds to his barrel close at hand, and always kept filled 
from the pump. Thorough watering is thus effected, but 
it involves a considerable expenditure for labour, one or 




THE :.IAIIKET GARDENS OE PARIS. 



465 



i;^o men being nearly always employed at it in each little 
garden during the sunny months. 

The system of watering with the hose_, generally adopted 
in the city of Paris^ could not fail to attract the attention of 
the market gardeners : it is already used by several of them, 
the old system of pots and tubs being done away with. In 
these cases the pump is again employed to elevate the water 
to a cistern placed a few yards above the highest point of 
the garden, and near the manure heaps and sheds of the 
establishment. I examined a garden thus arranged, and 
found the system very satisfactory. Twenty-seven outlets 
for the water were established over the surface of a garden 
about two acres in extent. To these a hose of india-rubber 
is attached, with a few feet of copper tubing and a large 
profasely perforated copper distributor or rose at its other 
end. From this, when the water is put on, it flows in a gentle 
but dense shower ; and the apparatus may be managed by 
a woman or a boy. The hose is not on little wheels as is the 
one used in the roads and parks, nor can it be by any means 
or in any shape dragged over the growing crops that occupy 
every inch of the ground except the very narrow alleys 
between the squares or large beds; therefore there is a little 
contrivance to facilitate its use without injuring any of the 
plants. The outlet, we will say, is on an alley crossing the 
garden, and the operator wishes his hose to play say thirty 
feet from the outlet, and up one of the narrow footways 
that leads from the alley. Three little wooden rollers held 
together on one piece of iron enable him to do this. The 
following simple diagram will explain it : . There is a 
little wooden roller on the cross bar, and one short one 
with a margin on each of the upper limbs — the lower points 
form the teeth, and are stuck in the earth. Through this, 
placed at the mouth of the alley, the india-rubber hose glides 
as easily as a snake, without hurting a leaf. The mechanical 
arrangement of each outlet is such that a twist of the base 
of the hose which fits it is made to turn the water off or on 
in an instant. This very satisfactory apparatus cost its 
owner about 3000 francs. Having his own pump there is 
nothing to pay for the water. 

H H 



i 



466 



THE MARKET GARDENS OF PARIS. 



Nobody could pass suddenly^ as I Lave done^ from onr own 
markets and market gardens to tliose of Paris in the middle of 
any bnt a wet summer without being forcibly taught how 
advantageous it would be to be able to command water in 
our gardens. It is the custom,, and a very frequent one^ 
among the horticultural community, to grumble about 
our climate — the " dull/^ " cloudy/-' " changeable^'' climate 
of Britain ; to speak of that of other countries as paradisaical, 
and to attribute all our failures to want of sun.^'' 

In 1868 we had sun enough to satisfy an Arab, and what 
was the result ? The worst ever remembered in the garden. 
It was natural to think the soft, green vegetables would suffer, 
but everybody hoped the heat would prove favourable to 
such useful members of the Solanum families as the Potato 
and Tomato ; whereas the Potatoes proved worse than if 
badly blighted, and even the heat-loving Tomato dropped 
its flowers before setting. Radishes disappeared with the 
dew of May. The Cabbage tribe presented, everywhere 
that they had not completely perished, a sad spectacle — a 
mere bony framework of glaucous vegetation, wdth all the 
softer parts gnawed away by hungry tribes of vermin, the 
only things that flourished with tiie heat. In this condition 
the Brassicaceee were sold, and — the fact speaks well for the 
appetite of the public — eaten. An extensive London market 
gardener showed me a field of Celery with not a single plant 
in it good or large enough to be culled for seasoning, and at 
nearly every root grubs gnawing away the plant. Those who 
are accustomed to realize hundreds of pounds for a crop, 
gathered barely as much of it as would make it worth while 
sending to the market ; while the private growers were quite 
as badly off. During the month of July, and when Cauli- 
flowers in British gardens had almost disappeared, I mea- 
sured them in the market gardens of Paris a foot in diameter, 
of that pure creamy white and perfectly dense and firm 
texture which admirers of the Cauliflower like so much. 
Strange as it may appear to some, during the whole of the 
hot weather vegetables of the primest and the most delicate 
quality were to be had in the Paris markets, where even 
greater difficulties had to be met by the cultivator. 



THE MAEKET GARDENS OF PARIS. 



467 



Be it observed tliat this is no contrast of 1868 ; it is the 
same thing, to some extent, every year. The year 1867, for 
example, was anything but a dry one ; yet, in passing through 
the central markets at Paris during the month of July, 1867, 
with an excellent cultivator who has every convenience and 
good ground in the prettiest and richest part of Surrey, he 
was more surprised with the Radishes and young Turnips than 
with anything else. "We cannot get anything like these 
at this season,"'"' said he. Of course not, and simply because 
we do not take the simplest precautions to secure them. 
We have them when the weather is dewy and favourable, 
and where the climate and soil are moist ; but a few weeks 
of dryness puts an end to all such luxuries, and should the 
drought continue, everything becomes worthless and uneat- 
able, as during the past season. But are we in a position 
to boast of our horticulture while this is the case ? Does 
the routine work, which merely waits upon the seasons thus, 
deserve the name of skill ? I think not, and moreover that 
it is absurdly unsatisfactory to reflect that the very things 
which our watery and cloudy clime is supposed to be most 
favourable to, are to be found in greatest perfection with the 
French, in the drier and, for vegetables, less favourable 
climate of Pans ! The secret of it all is that the French 
market gardener, in addition to tilling and enriching his 
ground in the best manner, waters thoroughly and repeatedly 
every crop that requires water for its perfect development. 

Our gardens are no more prepared to encounter a great, or 
even an unusual scarcity of water, than they are to meet a 
second deluge. The practice of dragging water considerable 
distances in pots and barrels is a very doubtful good ; 
watering is useless if not thoroughly done. I need not 
remind the reader of the many things to which waiter is 
almost the life. Extract the water from a juicy Lettuce, 
or any other appreciated vegetable, and how much remains ? 
Our soils are of course saturated with water in winter, when 
plants do not want it ; but it is often absent when they 
would absorb it as thirstily as the hart the cooling stream, 
and when the absence of it leaves them mere accumulations 
of tough fibre. I am not sanguine enough to hope that any 

H H 2 



46S 



THE MAEKET GARDENS OF PARIS. 



words of mine can induce cultivators to adopt sometliing 
like a system for watering gardens effectively ; but there can 
be no doubt whatever that it would be a decided advantage 
to establish immediately in every large kitchen garden a small 
department near the best supply of water to make it rich 
and light,, and keep it thoroughly moist during the dry and 
warm months ; so that a few crisp and dehcate salads and 
vegetables may not during a dry season be as impossible 
with us as upon the Sahara. This small division might be 
established in most places without any but the most trifling 
cost^ and the result would be very satisfactory indeed. Even 
a few very rich and light beds^ closely cropped and looked 
after, and placed near a good supply of water, would repay 
the cultivator, and perhaps soon lead him to adopt the same 
plan of giving abundance of food and water on a larger 
scale. It need hardly be added that it would not be neces- 
sary to make any such arrangement in any very moist 
districts in the British Isles ; but although tlieoretically our 
climate is very moist, there are many parts of the southern 
and midland counties where a modification of the Parisian 
plan would prove a decided advantage. 

In addition to the abundant watering and rich manuring 
the Parisian market gardeners owe a great deal of their 
success to a close system of rotation, eight crops per year 
being frequently gathered from the ground. Were it not 
so the cultivators could not exist, so very limited is the 
ground each possesses. A considerable portion of the surface 
in one garden I visited was devoted to Cos lettuce, and 
very fine specimens of it; but beneath them there was a 
dark green carpet of leaves very close to the ground — the 
leaves of the Scarolle, which forms such an excellent salad, 
and is indeed one of the very best of all salads, and not yet 
sufiicientiy grown in England. The young plants have 
plenty of room to grow now amongst the closely-tied up 
Cos lettuce ; but the moment the Cos is cut for market, the 
Scarolle has full liberty, and with abundance of water soon 
makes wide heads. Then perhaps some young plants of 
another vegetable are slij)ped in at regular intervals in the 
angles between four plants of Scarolle, which crop will be 



THE MARKET GARDENS OE PARIS. 



469 



vigorous and halfway toward perfection when the great 
smooth Endive is ready for the market. As an illustration 
of the cropping^ the cultivator described to me that of a 
portion of his grou.nd for the past year. In the earliest 
spring the ground was occupied by Cos lettuce^ and from 
between them a crop of Radishes was gathered. Cauli- 
flowers were planted early among the Cos_, and as they ap- 
proached maturity the ground was of course wholly occu- 
pied by them, as one could not well put anything beneath 
a crop of perfectly grown Cauliflowers. When they were 
cut in May and June^ an opportunity occurred of giving 
the ground that thorough culture and preparation which 
such a course of heavy cropping demands. Then a crop 
of Spinach was sown_, and in the Spinach Cos lettuce. As 
soon as the Spinach was cleared off, a crop of Endive was 
placed alternately with the Cos. Then small Cauliflower 
plants were put in_, yielding a fine crop in the autumn, 
and after them a small quick crop like Corn salad, and 
afterwards the ground was covered with frames. 

Like everything else in Paris, and in France generally 
the condition of these market gardeners has much improved 
during the past generation. Their houses are humble 
enough now,, but I am told by M. Courtois Gerard, a 
capital authority on the subject, that they are palaces com- 
pared to what he remembers them to have been. Some 
of the crops, and particularly the forced crops, are now 
brought to invariable perfection in low narrow w^ooden 
frames. Eighty or ninety years ago, however, the market 
gardening of Paris was much less perfect ; fewer crops were 
gathered during the year, the art of forcing early vegetables 
and salads was in its infancy, and the most advanced market 
gardeners had not gone beyond the use of the cloche to 
force their vegetables. It is not that frames were not 
known at the time, as they were known in Uoyal and other 
private places, but they had not entered the market 
garden. In 1780 a cultivator named Pournier first used 
frames, and with such success in forcing that a great 
number of his fellows soon imitated him. It was the 
same individual who first introduced the culture of the 



470 



THE MARKET GARDENS OF PARIS. 



Cantaloupe Melon, and he also first grew tlie Spanisli or 
Sweet Potato. The first who forced white Asparagus was 
one Quentien, about the year 1792; the green Asparagus 
was also first forced by the same about 1800. One Bas- 
nard first forced the Cauliflower about the year 1811. The 
first forced Cos lettuces ajopeared about 1812^ and the 
Endive about the same time by Baptiste Quentien. The 
Carrot was first forced in 1826 by M. Gros. 

The workmen employed in these market gardens work^ 
like their masters^ very hard_, but are pretty well paid. 
From inquiries made from difi'erent cultivators^ the wages 
are from fifty to seventy-five francs per month with 
board and lodging. They have no fixed hours for work as 
with us^ but in summer begin with the dawn and in winter 
hours before it. They often commence work at three in 
the mornings and continue it till eight in the evening in 
summer. In the dark winter mornings they cannot of 
course work in the gardens^ but they can take the produce 
to market and go for the ever necessary manure. After 
a visit to one of these places I was invited by the pro- 
prietor to take a glass of wine with him. Hardly were we 
seated to this before he spoke some words from the door^ 
and presently in came his two workmen^ sunburnt^ strong 
men^ working barefooted in the soft moist soil of the garden^ 
and they also had their glass of Bordeaux^ touched our 
glasses^ and again went out to work. I afterwards learnt 
that this was the rule with them — anything the master has 
the workmen partake of. Under these circumstances the gulf 
of distrust, and consequently other evils that exist where 
the workman is treated as a far inferior being, cannot be. 
M. Courtois Gerard says that to cultivate a garden of two 
and a half acres devoted to forcing in frames, and open air 
culture, it is necessary to have five or six persons — that is 
to say, the master and mistress, two men, a girl and a boy. 

As to the masters, I was informed that many of them 
could not read or write ; but noticed notwithstanding a good 
barometer in each house. They well know the value of this 
instrument, and I was told by one of the very best of them 
that it was of the greatest use to him in his cultivation, by 
helping him to take precautionary measuj'es and adapt his 



THE MARKET GARDENS OF PARIS. 



471 



labour to the weather. This individual had worked four- 
teen years at the business^ and was desirous of disposing of 
his garden^ feeling rich enough to retire and live on the 
fruits of his labour. These men have their vicissitudes not- 
withstanding the vigorous industry and excellent system 
of culture which is general with them. Some that I 
visited devote a considerable portion of space to a difficult 
crop — Cauliflower seed. This takes a long time — more than 
a year — to bring to perfection ; one market gardener who 
had been in the habit of growing large and precious quan- 
tities of it for Messrs. Vilmorin_, Andrieux^ and Co.^ had 
scarcely gathered two pounds of it in consequence of the 
great heat of the season of 1868. 

There is a Societe de Secours Mutuel among these 
market gardeners. To give an example of the way they 
work, I have merely to state that when a body of pro- 
vincial cultivators were almost ruined by inundations, the 
Paris society sent them more than 1200 lbs. weight of seeds 
to begin again with. Generally they seem independent, 
and are said to accumulate money ; but their houses do not 
show the comfort that one could desire. However, few 
will doubt that it is better to have a large class of small 
proprietors in a thrifty and independent, if very humble 
condition, than one individual with his hundreds of acreSj 
and every soul employed by him without a single thing in 
the world to call his own, except it be misery, poverty, and 
degradation. The Paris market gardener is very far from 
being mistaken for a " genteel person, or putting in the 
smallest claim to the 

" Grand old name of gentleman, 
Defamed by every charlatan, 
And soiled by all ignoble use ;" 

but he is a thousand degrees better than the poor wretch 
working in a London market garden, who is practically a 
slave, and a very wretched, badly-fed, badly-housed, and 
badly-clad slave too. 

The cultivation of the Mushroom is of vast importance 
about Paris ; and I will next deal with the doings of the 
Champignonnistes, a class of men who devote themselves 
entirely to its culture. 



472 



CHAPTER XXI. 

MUSHROOM CULTURE. 

Mushroom growing as carried on around^ or rather beneatlt 
Paris and its environs,, is the most extraordinary example of 
culture th?tt I have ever seen either above or below ground, 
under glass or in the open air. To give the reader as good 
an idea of it as I can we must visit one of the great 
Mushroom caves ^' at Montrouge, just outside the fortifica- 
tions of Paris, on the southern side. The surface of the 
ground is mostly cropped with Vf heat ; but here and there 
lie, ready to be transported to Paris, blocks of white stone, 
which have recently been brought to the surface thi'ough 
coalpit-like openings. There is nothing like a " quarry,''^ 
as we understand it, to be seen about; but the stone is 
extracted as we extract coal, and with no interference 
whatever with the surface of the ground. We find a 
" Champignonniste'''' after some trouble, and he accompanies 
us across some fields to the entrance of his subterranean 
garden. It is a circular opening like the mouth of an old 
well, but from it protrudes the head of a thick pole with 
sticks thrust through it. This pole, the base of which rests 
in darkness sixty feet below, is the easiest and indeed the 
only way by which human beings can get into the mine. 
I had an idea that one might enter sideways and in a more 
agreeable manner, but it was not so. The artist who after- 
wards descended to take the sketches here engraved was in 
such a state of trepidation when he got to the margin and 
looked down, that my friend M. Durand of Bourg-la-Reine, 
who was kind enough to get these two sketches taken for 
me at very considerable trouble to himself, seriously medi- 
tated having him slung in cords. Down the shaky pole 
our guide creeps, I follow, and soon reach the bottom, from 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



473 



wMdi little passages radiate. A few little lamps fixed on 
pointed sticks are placed below, and, arming ourselves with 
one each, we slowly commence exploring tortuons passages 
as dark as night and as still as death. I have heard that 
the first individual who commenced Mushroom growing in 
these catacomb-like burrowings was one who, at a particu- 
larly glorious epoch of the history of France, when a great 
many more brave gar9ons went to the fight than returned 
from the victory, preferred, strange to say, to stay at home 
and hide himself rather than form a unit in battlers mag- 
nificently stern array .^-^ Industrious and discreet youth ! 
You deserve being held up as an example almost as much 
as the busy bee that improves each " shining hour.''^ 

The passages are 
narrow, and occasion- Fig. 280. 

ally we have to stoop. _ - 
On each hand there ^ ^'^m? 
are little narrow beds 'j^^ ^ 'if '^^^Mi 

of half - decomposed ' ■ '^'^mm'\ 

stable manure running ^ 
along the wall. These m-\. 
have been made quite 
recently, and have not 
yet been spawned. 

Presently we arrive at Mouth of Mushroom Cave at Montrouge. 

others in which the 

spawn has been placed, and is taking^^ freely. The spawn 
in these caves is introduced to the little beds by means of 
flakes taken from an old bed, or, still better, from a heap of 
stable manure in which it occurs naturally. Such spawn is 
preferred, and considered much more valuable than that 
taken from old beds. Of spawn in the form of bricks, as in 
England, there is none. 

The Champignonniste pointed with pride to the way 
in which the flakes of spawn had begun to spread through 
the little beds, and passed on — sometimes stooping very low 
to avoid the pointed stones in the roof — to where the beds 
were in a more advanced state. Here we saw little, smooth, 
putty-coloured ridges running along the sides of the pas- 




474 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



sageS; and wherever tlie rocky subway became as wide as a 
small bedroom two or three little beds were placed parallel 
to each other. These beds were new^ and dotted all over 
with Mushrooms no bigger than Sweet Pea seeds_, and 
affording an excellent prospect of a crop. Be it observed 
that these beds contain a much smaller body of manure 
than is ever the case in our gardens. They are not more 
than twenty inches high_, and about the same width at the 
base ; while those against the sides of the passages are not 
so large as those shaped like little Potato pits_, and placed in 
the open spaces. The soil with which they are covered to the 
depth of about an inch is nearly white_, and is simply sifted 
from the rubbish of the stone-cutters above^ giving the 
recently made bed the appearance of being covered with 
putty. 

Although we are from seventy to eighty feet below the 
surface of the ground everything looks very neat — in fact_, 
very much more so than could have been expected^ not 
a particle of litter being met with. A certain length of 
bed is made every day in the year_, and as they naturally 
finish one gallery or series of galleries at a time^ the beds 
in each have a similar character. As we proceed to those 
in full bearing_, creeping up and down narrow passages_, 
winding always between the two little narrow beds against 
the wall on each side^ and passing now and then through 
wider nooks filled with two or three little beds, day- 
light is again seen^ this time coming through another 
well-like shaft_, formerly used for getting up the stone, but 
now for throwing down the requisite materials into the 
cave. At the bottom lies a large heap of the white earth 
before alluded to, and a barrel of water — for gentle water- 
ings are required in the quiet, cool, black stillness of these 
caves, as well as in Mushroom-houses on the upper crust. 

Once more we plunge into a passage as dark as ink, and 
find ourselves between two lines of beds in full bearing, 
the beautiful white button-like Mushrooms appearing every- 
where in profusion along the sides of the diminutive beds, 
something like the drills which farmers make for green 
crops. As the proprietor goes along he removes sundry 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



475 



bunclies that are in perfection^ and leaves tliem on the spot^ 
so that they may be collected Tvith the rest for to-morrow^s 
market. He gathers largely every day, occasionally sending 
more than 400 lb. freight per day, the average being abont 
300 lb. A moment more and we are in an open space, a 
sort of chamber, say 20 feet by 12, and here the Kttle beds 
are arranged in parallel lines, an alley of not more than 
fonr inches separating them, the sides of the beds being 
literally blistered all over with Mnshi'ooms. There is one 
exception; on half 

of the bed and for Fig. 281. 

abont ten feet 
along, the little 
^Mushrooms have 
appeared and are 
appearing, bnt 
they never get 
larger than a pea, 
bnt shrivel away, 
" bewitched'''' as it 
were. At least 
snch was the 
ference to 
drawn from 
cnltivator''s 
pressions abont it. 
He gravely attri- 
buted it to a ridi- 
cnlously supersti- 
tious cause. Frequently the Mushrooms grow in bunches 
or rocks,-'-' as they are called, and in such cases those that 
compose the little mass are lifted all together. 

The sides of one bed here had been almost stripped by 
the taking away of such bunches, and it is worthy of note 
that they are not only taken out, root and all, when being 
gathered, but the very spot in which they grew is scraped 
out, so as to get rid of every trace of the old bunch, and 
the space covered with a little earth from the bottom of the 
heap. It is the habit to do this in every case, and when 



m- 

be 
the 

ex- 





Vie vr in Musliroom Cave. 



476 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



the gatherer leaves a small hole from which he has pulled 
even a solitary Mushroom^ he fills it with some of the white 
earth from the base^ no doubt intending to gather other 
Mushrooms from the same spots before many weeks are over. 
The Mushrooms look very white^, and are apparently of 
prime quality. The absence of all littery coverings and 
dust^ and the daily gatherings^ secure them in what we may 
term perfect condition. I visited this cave on the 6th of 
July^ 1868^ and doubt very much if at that season a more 
remarkable crop of Mushrooms could be anywhere found 
than was j^resented in this subterranean chamber — a mere 
speck in the space devoted to Mushroom culture by one 
individual. 

When I state that there are six or seven miles run of 
Mushroom beds in the ramifications of this cave^ and that 
their owner is but one of a large class who devote themselves 
to Mushroom culture^ the reader will have some oppor- 
tunity of judging of the extent to which it is carried on 
about Paris. These caves not only supply the wants of the 
city above them^ but those of England and other countries 
also, large quantities of preserved Mushrooms being ex- 
ported,, one house alone sending to our own country no less 
than 14^000 boxes annually. There were some traces of 
the teeth of rats on the produce^, and it need not be said 
that these enemies are not agreeable in such a place ; but 
they did not seem to have committed any serious ravages^ 
and are probably only casual visitors^ who take the first 
opportunity of obtaining more varied food than is aff'orded 
them by these caves. To traverse the passages any further 
is needless — there is nothing to be seen but a repetition of 
the culture above described^ every available inch of the cave 
being occupied. "We again find our way to the bottom of 
the shafts carefully mount the rather shaky pole one by 
one^ and again stand in the hot sun in the midst of the 
ripe Wheat. In traversing the fields^ two things relating 
to Mushroom culture are to be observed — ^heaps of white 
gritty earth, sifted from the debris of the white stone^ and 
large heaps of stable manure accumulated for Mushroom 
growing, and undergoing preparation for it. That prepara- 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



477 



tion is different from what we are accustomed to give it. 
It is ordinary stable mannre^ not droppings^ or very short 
stnff^ and it is thrown into heaps four or five feet high_, and 
perhaps thirty feet wide. The men were employed turning 
this over_, the mass being afterwards stamped down with 
their feet^ a water-cart and pots being used to thoroughly 
water the manure where it is dry and white. 

As many will feel an interest in the cave culture of the 
Mushroom^ and perhaps wish to see it for themselves, I 
may state that it is difficult to obtain permission to ^dsit 
the caves, and many persons would not like the look of the 
^^laddeT" which affords an entrance. Even with a well- 
known Parisian horticulturist I had some difficulty in 
entering them. We were informed that one Champignon- 
niste in the same neighbourhood demands the exorbitant 
price of twenty francs for a visit to his cave. As the visit 
is a work of some little time, no visitor should put the 
cultivators to this trouble without offering some slight re- 
compense — say five francs. The above cave is but a sample 
of many in the immediate neighbourhood of Paris. 

We will next visit a Mushroom cave of another type 
at some little distance from that city. It is situated near 
Prepillon, Mery-sur-Oise — a place which may be reached 
in an hour or so by the Chemin de fer du Nord, passing by 
Enghien, the valley of Montmorency and Pontoise, and 
alighting at Auvers. There are vast quarries in the neigh- 
bourhood, both for building-stone and the plaster so largely 
used in Paris. The materials are not quarried in the ordi- 
nary way by opening up the ground, nor by the method 
employed at Montrouge and elsewhere in the suburbs of 
Paris, but so that the interior of the earth looks like a vast 
gloomy cathedral. In 1867 the culture was in full force 
at Mery, and as many as 3000 lbs. a day were sometimes 
sent from thence to the Paris market; but the Mushroom 
is a thing of peculiar taste, and these quarries are now 
empty — cleaned out and left to rest. After a time the 
great quarries seem to become tired of their occupants, or 
the Mushrooms become tired of the air j the quarries are 
then well cleaned out, the very soil where the beds rested 



478 



MUSHROO:,! CULTURE. 



being scraped away_, and the place left to recruit itself for a 
year or two. In 1867 M. Renaudot had the extraordi- 
nary length of over twenty-one miles of Mushroom beds in 
one great cave at Mery^ last year there were sixteen miles 
in a cave at Frepillon. This is a clean^ lonely ^illage^ just 
touching on the gigantic cemetery which ^I. Haussmann 
has projected. 

The distant view of 
the entrance to the 
quarries has much the 
appearance of an Eng- 
lish chalk pit. But 
there is a great rude 
arch cut into the rock^ 
and into this we enter^ 
meeting j)!'^^^^'^^ ^ 
waggon coming forth 
with a load of stones^ 
the waggoner with 
lamp in hand. To the 
visitor who has seen 
the low jMushroom 
caves near Paris,, where 
it is sometimes neces- 
sary to stoop very low 
to avoid knocking 
one^s head against the 
roof rocksj the surprise 
is great on getting a 

Entrance to large Subterranean Quarry. little way in. At least 

it is so as soon as one 
can see ; the darkness is so profound that a few candles or 
lamps merely make it more visible. The tunnel we traverse 
is nearly regularly arched^ masonry being used here and 
there^ so as to render the suppiort secure and symmetrical^ 
the arches being flat at the top for six feet or so^ and about 
twenty-five feet high ; sometimes five feet higher. 

Presently we turn to the rights and a scene like a vast 
subterranean rock temple presents itself. At one end 




MUSHUOOM CULTURE. 



479 



are several of us with lamps^ admiring the young jMushrooms 
budding all over the rows of beds at our feet_, whichj serpent - 
like^ are long and slim, and coil away into the darkness. 
At about 150 feet distance there is a group of three men and 



Fig. 283. 




Plan of large Subterranean Quarry at Fortes Torres, Frepillon. S, S, S, represent 
the plan of tlie bases of the huge supporting pillars, and the dotted lines their 
union ^vith the roof. D, C, shows the line of the section shown in the following 
cut, and P, place for preparing the plaster. 



a boy, each with a lamp^ again dispelling the darkness from 
the Mushroom beds, and occupied in placing small quantities 
of a sort of white clayey sand in the spots whence gatherings 
have been made a few hours previously. From both sides 
of this gloomy avenue the dark openings of others depart at 



480 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



short intervals,, and the floor of all is covered with Mushroom 
heds, sometimes running along the passages^ sometimes across 
them. These beds are about twenty-two inches high and 
as much in diameter^ and are covered with silver sand and 
a sort of white putty-like clay in about equal proportions. 
In some parts of the cave the work of ripping out the stone 
by powder and simple machinery continually goes on. The 
arches follow the veining of the stone^ so to speak ; their lower 
parts are of hard stone^ the upper ones of soft^ except the 
very top^ which is again hard. There is but a slight crust 
of stone above the apex of each arch^ and above that the 
earth and trees. Running along in parallel lines^ and dis- 



FiG. 284. 




Section following the line C, D, in Fig. 283. 



appealing from Yiew in the darkness^ one knows not what to 
compare them to^ unless it be to barked Pine trees in the 
hold of a ship. 

Everywhere on the surface of these little beds small 
Mushrooms were peering forth in quantity ; as the beds are 
regularly gathered from every day^ no very large ones are 
seen. They are preferred at about the size of a chestnut^ 
and are removed root and branchy a small portion of finely 
sifted earth being placed in each hole^ so as to level the bed 
as in the caves at Montrouge. If the old superstition that 
a Mushroom never grows after being seen by human eyes 
were true^the trade of a Champignonniste would never answer 
here^ as the little budding individuals come within view 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



481 



every day cluring the gathering and earthing operations. 
The most perfect cleanliness is observed everwhere in the 
neighbourhood of these beds^ and the whole surface of each 
avenue is covered by them, leaving passages of ten inches or a 
foot betTTcen the beds. At the time of my visit (Sept. 29^ 
1868) the crops of the cultivator were reduced to their lowest 
ehhj and yet about 400 pounds per day were sent to market. 
The average daily quantity from this cave is about 880 
pounds, and sometimes that is nearly doubled. It may be 
supposed that the profits from such an extensive culture are 
great; and so they are, but the expense is great also. The 
proprietor informed me that culture on a more limited scale 
than he pursued last year at Mery gave the best return in 
proportion to expense, the care and super\ision required by 
so many miles of beds being too great. 

All the manure employed is brought from Paris by rail, 
as the place is twenty-five miles from that city by road. 
In the first place, so much per horse per month is paid 
in Paris for the manure ; then it has to be carted to the 
railway station and loaded in the waggons ; next it is 
brought to the station of Auvers, and afterwards carted a 
couple of miles to the quarries, paying a toll for a bridge 
over the Oise on the way. That surely is difficulty enough 
for a cultivator to begin with ! Then it is placed in great 
flat heaps a yard deep by about thirty long and ten wide, 
not far removed from the mouth of the cave, and here it is 
prepared, turned over and well mixed three times, and as a 
rule watered twice. About five or six weeks are occupied 
in the preparation, long manure requiring more time than 
short. The watering is not usually done regularly over the 
mass, but chiefly where it is dry and overheated. Every 
* day manure is brought fi'om Paris ; every day new beds are 
made and old ones cleared out — the spent manure being 
used for garden purposes, particularly in surfacing or 
mulching, so as to prevent over-radiation from the ground 
iu summer. The chief advantage the cultivator here has is 
the facility of taking his manure or anything else in or out 
in carts, as easily as if the beds were made in the open air. 
Near Paris, on the contrary, everything has to be sent up 

I I 



482 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



Fig. 285. 



and do^n througli shafts like those of old Tvells_, and the 
men have to creep up and down a rongh pole like mice. 
Many men are employed in the culture^ the daily examina- 
tion of sixteen miles of beds being a considerable item in 
itself. Here and there a barrier in the form of straw nailed 
between laths may be seen blocking up the great arch to a 
height of six feet or so. This is to prevent currents of 

air wandering about 
through the vast pas- 
sages. 

The mode of pre- 
paring the spawn here 
is entirely different to 
ours. They prefer 
virgin spawn — that is 
to say^ spawn found 
naturally in a heap 
of manure. But as 
this material cannot 
be obtained in suffi- 
cient quantity to meet 
the wants of such ex- 
tensive growers^ "^hey 
put a small portion of 
it into a Mushroom 
bed to spread; and 
instead of allowing 
this bed to produce 
Mushrooms it is all 
used as spawn^ and 
is valued more than 
any other. Of course 
abundance of spawn occui^s in the old beds, but it is never 
used dii-ectly. It is, however,, frequently employed to 
spawn a small bed when virgin spawn cannot be obtained. 
In this case the small bed devoted to the propagation of 
spawn is |)laced in the open air^ and covered with straw, 
and as soon as it is permeated with the spawn it is carried 
into the caves and used. As the making and spawning of 




Extracting the Stone iu Subterranean 
Quarries. 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



483 



beds is a process continually going on^ a bed of this sort 
must be ready at all times. It is never made into bricks 
as with US, but simply spread through short_, partly-decom- 
posed manure. 

I was informed that coal mines are not adapted for grow- 
ing Mushrooms, and the smallest particle of iron in the beds 
of manm-e is avoided by the spawn, a circle around it 
remaining inert. It is said to be the same with coal. If 
an evil-disposed workman wishes to injure his employer he 
has only to slip along by the beds with a pocketful of rusty 
old nails and insert one here and there. 



Fig. 286. 




View in old Subterranean Quarries devoted to Musliroom Culture, and in 
the occupation of M. Kenaudot. 

The beds remain in good bearing generally about two 
months, but sometimes last twice and three times as long. 
A useful contrivance for facilitating the watering of the beds 
has lately been invented ; it consists of a portable water- 
cistern to be strapped to the back and fitted with a rose and 
tubing, so that a workman may carry a larger quantity of 
water, and apply it more regularly and gently than with the 
old-fashioned watering-pots — while one hand is left free to 
carry the lamp. An iron frame has also been invented, in 
which the bed is first compressed and shaped, the frame 
being then reversed and the bed placed in position. 
Another invention for earthing the beds over as soon as the 
spawn has taken will soon be in operation, if not already so. 

I I 2 



484 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



As on an average 2500 yards of beds are made every 
monthj simple mecbanical contrivances to facilitate tbe 
operation will prove of tbe greatest advantage to tbe 
cultivator. 

In addition to tbe caves in tbe localities above alluded to 
tbere are otber places near Paris where the culture is carried 
on — notably at Moulin de la Eoche^ Sous Bicetre^ near St. 
Germain, and also at Bagneux. Tbe equability of temperature 
in the caves renders the culture of the ]Mushroom possible at 
aU seasons; but the best crops are gathered in winter^ and con- 
sequently that is the best time to see them. however^ saw 
abundant crops in the hottest part of the past very hot season. 
These jNIushroom caves are under government supervision^ and 
are regularly inspected like any other mines in which work 
is going on. As regards the depth at which this culture is 
carried on^ it varies from twenty to one hundi'ed feet, some- 
times reaching one hundi'ed and fifty and one hundred and 
sixty feet from the surface of the earth. They are so large 
that sometimes people are lost in them. In one instance 
the proprietor of a large cave went astray^ and it was three 
days before he. was discovered,, although soldiers and volun- 
teers in abundance were sent down. Is it possible that in 
a great mining and excavating country like ours we cannot 
establish the same kind of industry ? 



Culture in Cellars and in the Open Air. 

Of course they are only professional Mushroom growers 
that carry on such extensive operations as those just de- 
scribed^ but the IMushroom is 
Fig. 287. grown extensively in cellars 

/ifj i'^^ and like places. As an analo- 
/^1V "^ll^ ^'^^^ mode of culture is more 
I'J '^''''^^^ likely to meet general wants, the 

\h\/ \ \Wi foUovdng observations on the 

Newly-made Murhr7om^Bed7' subject may prove acceptable. 

They are by M. Laizier^ the Pre- 
sident of the IMutual Aid Society formed among the Paris 
market gardeners. 



MUSHROOM CrLTURE. 



4S5 



Fig. 



The manure to be used for this method of cultivation 
should be prepared in the same Tray as that for the open-air 
system described further on. Preference should be given 
to a cellar producing 
saline efflorescence ; it 
should be as dark as pos- 
sible, and exposed to no 
draughts. The warmth 
generated by the fermen- 
tation of the manure will 
subside^ and the sowing 
of the spaim must not 
be commenced until the 
temperatui'e of the bed 
has fallen below 76^ Fahr. 
of spawn are liable to 
cellars in many wavs. 



mm 



. Eed on rude Shelf against 
Wall of Cellar. 



; if it is 
be burnt. 
Those made 



above this the layers 
Beds can be made in 
in the middle should 
always be formed with two sides, 
Avhile those against the walls should 
r ] c- _ only be half as thick^ on account 

of their ha™g only one useful 
side. It is also possible to arrange 
- ' them on shelves, one above the 
I ^^-^ '*^''^\ W^''^^ other. For this purpose strong 

bars of iron are driven into the 
walls, upon which are placed 
shelves of the proper size covered 
with earth, upon which is formed 
a bed, that is treated exactly as 
those made upon the ground. 
These beds are just as productive 
as any of the other kinds. They 
may even be made on the bottoms 
of casks, which should be at least 
two feet six in diameter; and 
they are built up in the shape of a 
sugarloaf, about three feet in height, and the pieces of spawn 
are placed an inch and a quarter deep, and sixteeninches apart. 
A barrel is sawn crossways into two pieces, each forming 





Pyramidal Mushroom Bed on 
Floor of Cellar. 



486 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



a tub. Holes are made in tlie bottom of eacb^ and a 
tbin layer of good soil is spread over tbem inside. Tbey 
are tben filled witb good well prepared stable mannre,, jnst 
like tliat nsed in tbe case of ordinary Musbroom beds, 
tbe different layers of dnng in eacb tub being well pressed 
down. "WTien tbe tub is balf full,, six or seven good pieces of 
spawn are placed on tbe surface^ and tbe remainder is piled 
up witb manure, wliicb is well pressed down^ tbe operation 
being completed by gi^dng to tbe beap tbe form of a dome. 
Tbe tubs tbus prepared are placed in a perfectly dark part 
of a cellar, and eigbt or ten days afterwards tbe dung 
is taken up until tbe spawn is visible, in order to see 

wbetber it bas com- 
menced to vegetate 
and develope little fila- 
ments. If tbe spawn 
bas struck, tbe surface 
must be covered witb 
soil, care being taken 
to use only tbat wbicb 
is fresb and properly 
prepared. Tbe ne- 

MushroomsgmvninbottomTfoldCask. ^^ssity of proCUl'ing 

good Musbroom 
spawn cannot be too strongly insisted upon, tbis being 
tbe indispensable condition for arriving at a good re- 
sult. An excellent kind is sometimes met witb tbat bas 
been formed spontaneously in some old dungbeap, wbicb 
is called virgin spawn. Wben tbis cannot be procui'ed, 
excellent spawn may be formed in tbe following manner : — 
A little bed of stable manure is prepared, eitber in a 
cellar or in tbe open air^ and sown witb good ordinary 
Musbroom spawn, tbe proper amount of care already 
described being bestowed' upon it. As soon as tbe Mush- 
rooms appear on tbe siu^face of tbe bed tbe spawn remaining 
must be speedily removed and placed in a dry, aiiy situation. 
Tbe spawn tbus prepared can be preserved for two or tbree or 
even four years. Specimens bave been kept as long as four- 
teen years, from wbicb excellent results bave been obtained."" 




MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



4S7 



We will next turn to the culture of the Muski'oom in 
the open air. In old times the market gardeners of Paris 
used to groTT the Mushroom amongst their ordinary crops 
^th great profit^ but since the Champignonnistes cultivate 
it under no danger from cold in the caves^ the market 
gardeners^ "svho used to raise it to a great extent in the open 
air^ do so now in a lesser degree. They begin with the 
preparation of the manure^ and collect that of the horse for 
a month or six weeks before they make the beds ; this they 
prepare in some firm spot of the market-garden,, and take 
from it all rubbishy particles of wood, and miscellaneous 
matters; for^ say they^ the spawn is not fond of these 
bodies. After sorting it thus^ they place it in beds two feet 
thick^ or a little morC; pressing it with the fork. When 
this is done the mass or bed is well stamped^ then thoroughly 
watered^ and finally again pressed down by stamping. 
It is left in this state for eight or ten days, by which 
time it has begun to ferment, after which the bed 
ought to be well turned over and re-made on the same place, 
care being taken to place the manure that was near the 
sides of the first-made bed towards the centre in the turning 
and re-making. The mass is now left for another ten 
days or so, at the end of which time the manure is about 
in proper condition for making the beds that are to bear 
the Mushrooms. Little ridge-shaped beds — about twenty- 
six inches wide and the same in height — are then formed in 
parallel lines at a distance of twenty inches one from the 
other. 

In a market garden they may stretch over a considerable 
extent. Their length being determined by the wants 
of the grower. The beds once made of a firm, close- 
fitting texture, the manure soon begins to warm again, but 
does not become unwholesomely hot for the spread of the 
spawn. When the beds have been made some days, the 
cultivator spawns them, having of course ascertained be- 
forehand that the heat is genial and suitable. Generally 
the spawn is inserted within a few inches of the base, and 
at about thirteen inches apart in the line. Some cultivators 
insert two lines, the second about seven inches above the 



488 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



first. In doing so, it -would of course be well to make the 
holes for the spawn in an alternate manner. The spawn is 
inserted in flakes about the size of three fingers^ and then 
the manure is closed in over,, and pressed firmly around it. 
This done, the beds are covered with about six inches of 
clean litter. Ten or twelve days afterwards the growers visit 
the beds, to see if the spawn has taken well, ^Tien they see 
the white filaments spreading in the bed they know that 
the spawn has taken; if not, they take away the spawn 
they suppose to be bad and replace it with better. But, 
using good spawn, and being practised hands at the work, 
they rarely fail in this particular ; and when the spawn is 
seen spreading well through the bed, then, and not before, 
they cover the beds with fresh sweet soil to the depth of 
about an inch or so. For cover, the little pathway between 
the beds is simply loosened up, and the rich soil of the 
market garden applied equally, firmly, and smoothly with a 
shovel. With these open-air beds they succeed in getting 
Mushrooms in winter. A covering of abundance of litter is 
put on immediately after the beds are earthed, and kept there 
as a protection. They have not long to wait till the beds 
are in full bearing, and when they are in that state it is 
thought better to examine and gather from the beds every 
second day, or even every day where there are many beds. 
And thus they grow excellent Mushrooms, and in great 
quantity, all the further attention required being to renev/ 
the covering when it gets rotten, and an occasional watering 
in a very dry season. 



489 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE CrLTURE OF SALADS. 

The culture of salads for the Paris market is not merely 
good — it is perfection. Not only do the French gardeners 
supply their own markets with delicious salads all through 
the winter and early spring months, but also_, to a consider- 
able extent, those of some other countries, and send vast 
quantities to the English markets. Now it will probably 
occur to the reader that climate is the cause of the supe- 
riority of the French in this respect, and, indeed, some prac- 
tical men repeatedly say so. Nothing can be more fallacious 
than this belief; and I have no hesitation in affirming that, 
by the adoption of the method to be presently described, 
as good salads as ever went to the Paris markets may be 
grown in England and Ireland during the coldest months 
of winter and spring. It is simply nonsense to say that it 
is the effect of climate ; the winters in northern France are 
severer than our own, and I know many spots in England 
and Ireland which are preferable to the neighbourhood of 
Paris for this culture. Near that city I have often seen 
beautiful Cos and Cabbage lettuces looking as fresh under 
their coverings in the middle of winter, when the earth was 
frost-bound, as the budding Lilac in May : had they been 
treated as ours usually are, they would have presented a 
very different appearance. At all times of the year the 
gardens in which salads are grown round Paris are 
beau.tiful examples of cultivation. In the spring and 
summer, when they are grown in the open air, nothing can 
look more healthy; but it is their condition in the cold 
season, when little or nothing can be done with them out 
of doors, that demands most attention from us. As very 
ordinary cultivation suffices to grow them with us in the 



490 



THE CULTURE OF SALADS. 



favourable parts of the year, and in the other our markets 
are supplied from France, it is obvious that it is as regards 
the winter and early spring supplies that we want improve- 
ment. That improvement is easily secured. 

The first and the chief thing to do towards it is to pro- 
cure some of the large bell glasses (cloches) used by the 
French for this purpose, which are more fully described 
in the chapter on .horticultural implements. They are 
cheap — and they require no repairs, and are easily cleaned 
and stored when not required. The troublesome task of 
giving air is done away with in their case. Without air 
on every possible occasion the British gardener attempts 
nothing under glass. i3y adopting this simple article, he 

may forego that ceaseless trouble 
throughout the winter and early 
spring. In the hotter weeks of 
autumn, these glasses are tilted up 
on one side for an inch or so, with 
a bit of stone placed underneath; 
but when once winter comes in 
y earnest, then down they go quite 
' - close, and are all through the 

Fourplants of the Lettuce Petite winter in the same condition as 
Noire under the Cloche early , , -^^ -n 

in October. what WO Call Wardian cases. By 

the way, the French recognised 
this principle long before we did, and what is more, have 
made a far more practical use of it. For all sorts of winter 
salad-growing this huge bell glass of theirs is infinitely su- 
perior to anything that we use for like purposes. The 
plants get full light at all times, and, while perfectly pre- 
served from the filth and splashing of the rains in winter, 
are not in the least " drawn " or injured by the confinement, 
the light coming in so freely at all points. 

The glasses are nearly sixteen inches in diameter, and 
about as much in height. For the winter work they are 
sometimes placed on a sloping spot with a sunny aspect, or 
the ground is thrown into beds, each wide enough to 
accommodate three lines of glasses. In early autumn these 
beds are made and the plants placed upon them, so that 




THE CULTURE OF SALADS. 



491 



they can be readily covered by the bell glasses -wben the 
time comes that growth is checked in the open air. It 
should be added that the ground chosen is thoroughly rich, 
light, and well and deeply stirred, and the Lettuces are sown 
at intervals of a fortnight or so, so as to secure a succession, 
and to provide for the wants of the various kinds. The 
plants put out in September for the early and mid-autumn 
supply may not require to be covered if the weather be fine ; 
and if they do, the glasses are tilted up a little as before 
described. But when the sun begins to fail and the cold 
rains to check growth, about the end of October, then the 
crop to be cut in the following month must be covered ; 
and when towards Christmas the frost begins to take hold 
of the ground, the glasses must be firmly pressed down, and 
a deposit of leaves and litter placed around them. 

Fig. 292. 



/ 
















/ 









Sloping Bed for three rows of Cloches. 

Thus, while everything else is at rest in the grip of ice, 
the plants will be kept perfectly free from frost, receiving 
abundant light from above, and growing as fresh as April 
leaves. Of course a deeper layer of this surrounding litter 
will be necessary in case of severe frost than in early winter. 
Covering them a little more than half-way up with a rather 
compact body of leaves and litter, eff'ectually secures them 
from sharp frosts. When very severe frosts occur, mats 
made of straw are spread over the tops of the glasses ; and 
should heavy falls of snow occur while these mats are on, 
they will enable the cultivator to carry it bodily away from 
the bed or beds ; for it should not be allowed to melt on 
the beds or in the alleys between. In late spring the cloche 
is not required, nor is it for any except those crops that 
require artificial assistance. Thus the March and April 



492 



THE CULTURE OF SALADS. 



supply is planted in October on a bed of ligbt soil^ with a 
surfacing of an incb or so of thoroughly rotten manure or 
leaf mould. These little plants are allowed to remain all 
through the winter unprotected ; and when in spring the most 
forward Cloche Lettuces are cut^ the glasses are immediately 
placed over the most advanced and promising of the little 
ones that have remained exposed. By that time they have 
begun to start up, encouraged by the early spring sun, and 
from the moment they receive the additional warmth and 
steady temperature of the cloche they commence to unfold 
the freshest and most juicy of leaves, and finish by becoming 
those great-hearted and tender products which one may 
see in such fine condition in the Paris markets in early 
spring. In the first instance three or five little plants may 
be put under each glass, and these thinned out and used as 
they grow, so that eventually but one is left, and that, 
without exaggeration,, often grows nearly as big as the glass 
itself. Happily, no water is required, as the ground 
possesses sufiicient moisture in winter and spring, and eva- 
poration is prevented by the glasses and the protecting 
litter that covers the space between them. Thus a genial, 
agreeable moisture is kept up at all times, and the very 
conditions that suit Lettuces are preserved by the simplest 
means. 

With the same glasses the various small saladings may 
be grown to perfection, or receive a desirable start. Thus, 
for instance, if Corn Salad be desired perfectly clean and 
fresh in mid-winter, it may be obtained by sowing it between 
the smaller Lettuces grown under these glasses ; and so with 
any other small salad or seedling that may be gathered or 
removed without loss before or at the time the more im- 
portant crop requires all the room. These bell glasses will 
be found of quite as much advantage in the British garden 
as they are in the French ; they will render possible the 
production of as fine winter salads in our gardens as ever 
the French grew ; they will enable us to supply our own 
markets with an important commodity, for which a good 
deal of money now goes out of the country ; and, not least, 
their judicious use will make fresh and excellent salads 



THE CULTURE OE SALADS. 



498 



possible in winter. At present the produce is so inferior 
and so dirty at that season^ that it is generally avoided, and 
rightly so ; for Lettnces when hard and wiry from alterna- 
tions of frost_, sleet_, and rains — slug-eaten and half-covered 
with the splashings of the ground^ above which they hardly 
rise — are not worth eating or buying. And though they 
may be grown well in frames and pits^ the method herein 
described is better and simpler than that_, and the Lettuces 
thus produced are far finer than those 
grown in English gardens in winter. 

My first acquaintance with this 
mode of growing salad was made 
early in 1867. Since then I have 
had farther opportunities of studying 
the subject J and it now appears to 
me that to discuss it in a general 
way is not sufficient. To under- 
stand the cloche and its use will 
not suffice; we must observe the cul- 
ture of the varieties suited for each 
season^ beginning with the Lettuce 
Petite Noire,, a distinct winter kind^ 
and requiring peculiar treatment. 

Culture of the Lettuce Petite 
Noire. — This kind is grown to an 
enormous extent. Before leaving Paris 
in the first week of October last I saw 
beautiful crops of it growing, four plants 
under each cloche, each about five inches 
across, and without a speck of disease or 
dust. These plants, sown in August, are fit for cutting about 
the end of October, and prove very different to the rabbit food 
that serves us for salad as soon as the cold rains of autumn 
prevent its growing naturally to perfection. But this crop 
was an exceptionally early one; few sow it before the first 
days of September. It is sown on light, rich ground, well 
and deeply stirred, and covered with an inch, or a little 
more, of thoroughly decomposed and fine stable manure. 
The surface is made level and a little firm, and the impres- 



FfG. 293. 




Diagram sliowing the seve- 
ral stages of Lettuce Cul- 
ture under the Cloche. 
The minute dots represent 
the seedlings, which are 
pricked off v/hen very 
small, as shown in the 
circle with twenty-four 
asterisks. The central 
ring is the plan of a 
Cloche with one Paris Cos 
Lettuce in the middle, 
and five Cabbage Lettuces 
around it ; above it, one 
with four plants of a 
Winter Cabbage Lettuce ; 
and beneath it, one with 
three plants of the Cos. 



494 



THE CULTURE OF SALADS. 



sions of the number of cloches it is intended to sow made 
upon it. One cloche will prove sufficient for a private 
garden at one sowing ; a few suffice for the wants of a 
market garden. The Lettuce seed is then regularly sown 
within the ring formed by the impression of the large bell 
glass, and covered with a very slight coat of thoroughly 
rotten manure — a substance that is always used in quan- 
tities in Paris market gardens. Then the cloche is put on^ 
the rim being gently pressed into the light,, dark manure 
mould. Shade is given when the sun shines strong in 
early autumn^ but air is never given. A peculiarity of this 
excellent Lettuce is that it grows best without air. 

As soon as the seedlings are strong enough to transplant, 
they are pricked out, about thirty under each cloche. This 
ti'ansplantation is done at a much earlier stage than is the 
case with us. They do not let them wait to get crowded, 
and then transplant them, tall and drawn, into their places, 
but take them up gently and without disturbing the roots, 
soon after the cotyledons are developed and when the first 
leaves are beginning to appear. In transplanting, a sur- 
facing of very fine and thoroughly rotten manure is placed 
over the earth to the depth of an inch, and the earth is 
often thrown into beds sloping to the south, so that the 
cloches may enjoy the full sun. T^liether the beds are flat 
or sloping, they are wide enough for thi'ee ranges of cloches 
placed in a quincunx manner, so that very little space is lost 
between them. Before transplanting, the ground is marked 
by the impression of a cloche, and the little seedlings are 
inserted by the finger in the soft mould. Instead of getting 
drawn, as would be the case if they were left together for a 
longer period, the plants spread out into neat and firm little 
rosettes, their leaves lying close to the ground, for the Light 
comes freely through the clean cloche, and there is not a 
sign of ilL-health or speck of dust to be seen on the leaves. 
The first crop mentioned is not a general one, as there is 
abundance of open-air salad to be had about the time these 
will be cut ; but the strongest batch of those that in 
September were in the rosette stage, under the cloches, 
are transplanted into their final places before the 15th of 



THE CULTURE OF SALADS. 



495 



October, planting four under each cloche, and they supply 
a great want^ coming in in perfect condition towards the 
middle of winter. 

Sometimes the crop is planted out in the narrow frames 
common to Paris market gardens, turning over the old 
dung beds before planting. The frames being narrow and 
shallow, the plants are near the glass, and as soon as they 
are planted the lights are put on, and, instead of gi^^ng air 
by the aid of these lights, the greatest care is taken to keep 
it out. No matter whether under cloche or frame, the 
Petite Noire must never get any air. Should severe frost 
occur, the glasses may be protected with straw mats. It 
must be observed that when the plants are transferred into 
the places where they are to attain their fullest size they 
are removed with good balls, and with some care to check 
their growth as little as possible. The plants pricked out 
in October are ready to cut at the end of November or 
commencement of December, which are the seasons when 
this Lettuce begins to come into general use. In addition 
to the crop put out during the first half of November, 
another is sown at that season, in the way before described, 
and in hke manner. Should very severe weather render 
the Lettuces liable to suffer, dry litter is placed between the 
cloches, and higher up at their north side, so as to prevent 
the frost from entering the ground, and the contents of the 
cloches are daily exposed to the light and sun, except when 
they are frozen, when the covering is kept on or increased. 

The forced culture in the same narrow frames usually 
begins about the end of November. At that period a hot- 
bed is prepared, sixteen inches thick, and about 55° F. in 
temperature, spreading on it some of the never-failing, 
crumbling, thoroughly rotten manure, and on it is planted 
seven lines of Petite Noire. This plantation requires 
greater care than those placed under the cloche, in con- 
sequence of the warmth and humidity ; decaying or spotted 
leaves have to be picked off when they occur, and the 
plants must be protected with the mats more than those 
not excited by heat. The frames are surrounded by hot 
dung, and a dryer mass of it fills up the alleys between the 



496 



THE CULTURE OF SALADS. 



little frames to the very edge of each. At the end of 
January or beginning of February the last forced crop of 
Petite Noire is planted,, under cloches placed on a gentle 
hotbed a foot deep^ and covered with about four inches of 
the same mould-like manure^ the bell glasses as usual being 
placed in three ranks. The bed for them may be made 
wide enough for six (three lines on each side of a narrow 
alley)^ or for three only. In this January or February 
plantings four plants of Petite Noire are planted under each 
cloche^ and one Cos in the middle. The tender Petites 
Noires are good to gather in February and March; the 
Cos remains a little later^ nearly filling up the glass^ and 
forming one of those superb Lettuces to be seen in all our 
great towns in early spring, and which are usually supposed 
to come from some paradisiacal climate^ instead of the hard, 
cutting, and most ungenial winter climate of Paris. Cer- 
tainly the climate that would produce them without garden- 
ing skill at the periods spoken of should be as mild and 
smiling as that in which 

" O'er the four rivers the first roses blew." 

Laitue Verte Maraichere. — This Lettuce is sown about 
the first fortnight in October in the open air or on a sloping 
bed under a cloche. It is pricked out, and twenty or thirty 
are generally placed under one glass, which is taken ofi" every 
time that the weather permits. As it often happens that, 
in spite of the care taken with it, this Lettuce will grow too 
tall, it is generally taken up, and immediately transplanted 
during the course of the month of November. For this pur- 
pose a new sloping bed is prepared and the plants are pricked 
into it immediately, in which case only eighteen or twenty 
are put under each glass. From this moment they receive 
the same care as the other Lettuces sown at the same time. 
Towards the end of December or the beginning of January 
planting in frames and under cloches is begun. In the 
former case eight rows are placed in each frame, each row 
consisting of twenty-five plants, so arranged that there is 
alternately a Petite Noire and a Cos lettuce in each row. 
Under the cloches they are arranged so that there are four 



THE CULTURE OF SALADS. 



497 



of tlie former to one of the latter. The Cos lettuces thus 
grown may be gathered at the beginning of February. 
After they are gathered the beds are planted a second time, 
and towards the end of February or the beginning of March, 
that is to say, when the severe cold is no longer to be 
dreaded, a single plant is pricked out in the little spaces 
between the cloches. As soon as the Cos and the Petite 
Noire lettuces planted beneath the bell glass are gathered 
these latter are used for the second crop. By this method 
they may be gathered about three weeks after. At 
the same time warm borders on the south side of walls 
are also planted with Cos lettuces. Ten or twelve rows 
are drawn according to the size of the border, and 
planted with Cos lettuces about twelve or fourteen 
inches apart. After this crop has been planted out a few 
Radishes, Leeks, or Carrots are sown between the Lettuces. 
Generally speaking, these Cos lettuces are fit to gather 
towards the end of April or the beginning of May. Some 
market gardeners also sow Cos during the month of August, 
which, planted out in hotbeds under bell glasses, are gene- 
rally fit for gathering in December and January. 

Laitue Gotte. — This Lettuce cannot be raised in the same 
way as the Petite Noire, because it will not come to per- 
fection without plenty of air. It is not so early as the 
Petite Noire, but is much esteemed, growing larger and 
more perfect than its congener. The Laitue Gotte is sown 
from the 20th to the 25th of October, on a sloping bed, 
and the same method of after-treatment is adopted as in 
forcing the Petite Noire, although it is less damaged by 
frost. Being a later kind, it may be left in the sloping 
bed until the Petite Noire is all gathered, when it may be 
used to fill the vacant places in the hotbeds. The manure 
of the hotbeds should be left undisturbed, but the soil in 
the frames should be well forked and made even. Towards 
the end of January or beginning of February the L. Gotte 
should be planted in the frames. It should have plenty of 
air, whenever the weather will allow it, by propping up the 
back of the light. If the Lettuce does not heart early the 
light should be removed as soon as the fine weather makes 

K K 



498 



THE CULTURE OE SALADS, 



its appearance^ so as to allow it to come to perfection in 
the open air. Instead of planting the Laitue Gotte in a 
frame^ it may be planted on a hotbed under cloches ar- 
ranged in three rows,, three plants being placed under each^ 
taking care to preserve them from frost in the usual way^ 
and to give them air whenever the weather will allow of it. 
The Laitue Gotte may also be planted in the open ground 
under a cloche. The earth is well dug and raked^ and an 
inch and a half of well decomposed stable manure thrown 
over it, smoothed and flattened. The cloches are then 
placed in alternate lines^ with three plants under each. 
Wlien the plants have struck, air should be given them 
whenever it is possible. The Laitue Gotte, when planted 
in frames at the end of J anuary, arrives at perfection by the 
end of March ; those planted under cloches in February^ at 
the beginning of April ; and those planted under cloches or in 
frames at the end of February, towards the middle of April. 

The Passion Lettuce — Laitue de la Passion as it is called 
— is the only winter Lettuce grown in the neighbourhood of 
Paris in the open air. It is sown from the 15th of August 
to the 15th of September, according to the soil which is 
to receive it, and is pricked out rather thinly in October. 
It is generally left unprotected through the winter; how- 
ever, it is prudent to defend it against severe frosts by 
covering it with long Ktter, which is taken off and put on 
again as it is required. This Lettuce is generally fit for 
gathering towards Passion Week, from which cii'cumstance 
it is called Passion Lettuce by the Parisians. 

Corn Salad or Mache, — This plant is very much used in 
Paris, and is excellent as a salad. It is peculiarly agreeable 
when mixed with a sprinkling of Celery. The culture is of 
the simplest kind, the seeds being often sown amongst other 
crops, which must be placed somewhat thinly, and the 
Corn Salad is gathered before the other requii'es all the 
ground. They begin to sow the Ronde variety about the 
15th of August, and continue at intervals till the end of 
October. That sown in August comes in for the autumn con- 
sumption ; that sown in September for winter use ; and that 
sown in October is used in spring. During hard frosts the 



THE CULTURE OF SALADS. 



499 



crops to be gathered during winter are covered with long litter. 
Italian Corn Salad or Mache Regence is sown in October,, and 
is sown more tbinly than the preceding ; it is considered the 
best variety. It may also be raised in the spare places between 
the plants^ under cloche, in any open surface between plants 
in frames, or any cool light garden structure. 

The Barbe de Capucin is the most common of aU salads 
in Paris in the winter and early spring, and for its culture 
the cloche is not required. It is perhaps too bitter for 
some tastes, but is sometimes used by English families, and 
is well worthy of culture in small gardens, being so very 
easily forced when other salads are scarce. This salad is of 
all others that which may be had with the least amount of 
trouble by any person in possession of a spot of rough 
ground, a cellar, or any dark place where a little heat 
might be used to start the blanched leaves of the Chicory 
in winter ; it is therefore desirable that it be brought 
into common use. Should the taste be too bitter to those 
unaccustomed to it, or who do not like bitter salads, the 
addition of Corn Salad, Celery, or Beetroot, improves and 
modifies the flavour, and makes it a very distinct and agree- 
able salad. The gardeners of the commune of Montreuil 
sow every year a large quantity of wild Chicory for the 
purpose of forcing the Barbe de Capucin. For this 
purpose the crop is sown in April. It is sown both 
broadcast and in driUs, which are traced at a distance of 
eight inches from each other. At least nine pounds of seed 
per acre must be used. In the course of the summer the 
ground should be turned up several times ; when the frost 
sets in the roots are taken up with the fork, care being 
taken not to break them. They are then laid by the heels so 
as to have them always ready for use ; and in the course 
of the month of October, the season when such work is 
usually commenced, a hotbed about sixteen inches deep is 
prepared, the heat of which is from 65° to 80° Fahr. 
The most favourable position for such a hotbed is in a 
cave or in a deep cellar without light or air. 

When the heat of the bed has somewhat abated, the 
plants are tied up in bundles, having first carefully removed 

K K 2 



500 



THE CULTURE OF SALADS. 



all the dead leaves and other portions liable to produce 
monldiness^ after which they are placed upright on the bed 
and watered frequently with a rose watering-pot ; but, as 
usual,, the waterings must be adapted to the heat of the bed. 
From the time the Barbe begins to grow, these waterings 
ought to be performed with great judgment, so as to prevent 
the interior of the bundles from rotting. At the end of 
fifteen or eighteen days, the salad is long enough to be 
gathered. From the time given above the Chicory can be 
blanched up to March and April ; after every gathering 
however, the spent dung should be removed, and replaced 
by a fresh supply, so as always to keep the bed at the same 
degree of warmth. 

In the market gardens of Yiroflay large quantities of 
wild Chicory are cultivated. It is sown broadcast towards 
the end of the month of May or the beginning of June. 
The following February it is covered with an inch 
and a half of leaf mould, or, if that cannot be procured, 
mould from the pathways. Ten or twelve days afterwards 
it is cut just where the two kinds of earth join. Two or 
three gatherings are generally made, after which it is 
allowed to remain until the following year. 

ScAROLLE (Broad-leaved Batavian Endive). — This fine salad 
forms a very considerable item in the culture of the Paris 
market gardens. It is deserving of being generally grown 
in England, being easy of cultivation, very large, and form- 
ing an excellent salad ; indeed, it is on the whole perhaps 
the best we have. The mode of blanching is very simple : 
the leaves of the plant are gathered up, and then a single 
straw tied around them. This is only done five days before 
the ScaroUe is ready for market. A crop of this was nearly 
ready to blanch in September, it was the second crop of the 
same plant that had been on the ground — the first and best 
having been gathered a few weeks. Some of the finer 
specimens of this second unblanched crop measured twenty 
and twenty-one inches in diameter on September 7th, 1868. 



501 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 

Asparagus is grown mucli more abundantly and to a mucli 
larger size in France than it is in England. The country 
is half covered with it in some places near Paris ; small and 
large farmers grow it abundantly^ cottagers grow it — every- 
body grows it^ and everybody eats it. Near Paris it is 
chiefly grown in the valley of Montmorency and at Argen- 
teuil, and it is cultivated extensively for market in many 
other places. About Argenteuil 3000 persons are employed 
in the culture of Asparagus — at least so I was told 
by the son of the cultivator who took the best 
prizes for Asparagus at the Exhibition. His father not 
being at home,, I traversed a considerable portion of what 
may be termed the region of Asparagus with this youth, 
who was of the intelligent type, and understood all about 
this dainty vegetable. I first saw it growing to a large 
extent among the vines. The vine under field culture, I 
need scarcely say, is simply cut down to near the old stool 
every year, and allowed to make a few growths, which are 
tied erect to a stake : they do not overtop the Asparagus in 
any way, but on the other hand the strong plants of that 
show well above the vines. It was not in distinct close 
lines among the vines, but widely and irregularly separated, 
say six or seven feet apart in the rows, and as much or 
more the other way. They simply put one plant in each 
open spot, and give it every chance of forming a capital 
specimen, and this it generally does. When the stems get 
large and a little top-heavy in early summer, a string is put 
round all, so as to hold them slightly together (the careful 
cultivator uses a stake), and the mutual support thus given 
prevents the plant from being cut off in its prime. We 



502 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



all know how apt it is to be twisted off at the collar by- 
strong winds,, especially in wet weather^ when the drops on 
every tiny leaf make the foliage heavy. The growing of 
Asparagns among the vines is a very usual mode^ and a 
vast space is thus covered with it about here. But it is 
grown in other and more special ways^ though not one like 
our way of growing it^ which is decidedly much inferior to 
the French method. 

Perhaps the simplest and most worthy of adoption is to 
grow it in shallow trenches. I have seen extensive plant- 
ings that looked much as a Celery gi'ound does soon after 
being planted^ the young Asparagus plants being in a shallow 
trenchj and a little ridge of soil being thrown up between 
the lines of Asparagus. These trenches are generally about 
four feet apart^ sometimes less. The soil is rather a stiff 
sandy loam with calcareous matter in some parts^ but I do 
not think the soil has all to do with the peculiar excellence 
of the vegetable^ and am certain that soils on which it 
would flourish equally well are far from uncommon in 
England. It is the careful attention to the wants of the 
plant that produces such a good result. Here^ for instance^ 
is a young plantation planted in March^ and from the little 
ridges of soil between the shallow trenches they have just 
dug a crop of small early Potatoes. Now^ in England^ 
the Asparagus would be left to the free action of the breeze, 
but the French cultivators — like the old Scotchwoman who 
would not trust the stormy water and God^s goodness as 
long as there was a bridge in Stirling— never leave a young 
plant of Asparagus to the wind^s mercy whilst they can 
get hold of a bit of oak about a yard long. But when 
staking these young plants they do not insert the support 
close at the bottom, as we are too apt to do in other in- 
stances, but at a little distance off, so as to avoid the 
possibility of injuring a fibre ; each stake leans over its 
plant at an angle of 45°, and when the sapling is big enough 
to touch it or be caught by the wind, they tie it to the 
stick as a matter of course. The ground in which this 
system is pursued being entirely devoted to Asparagus, the 
stools are placed very much closer together than they are 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



503 



when groT^n amonj^ the vines, say at a distance of about a 
yard apart. The little trenches are about a foot wide and 
eight inches below the level of the gTOund — 'looking deeper, 
however, from the soil being piled up. 

The young plants are placed in these trenches very care- 
fully. A little mound is made with the hand in each spot 
where a plant is to be placed so as to elevate the crown a 
little and permit of the spreading out of the roots in a per- 
fectly safe manner. In fact they seem to be about as par- 
ticular as regards depositing the young plants in the first 
instance, as a good grape-grower is about his young vines. 
They plant in March and April — using any kind of manure 
that can be had^ but chiefly here, so far as I could see, the 
refuse of the town — the ashes, 
old vegetables, rags, and other 

matters, that the people throw SV^dilT 



before their doors, and which 




the dust-carts take away in the ^ ' f 

morning. They are very par- , X^.-^^^"^ 
ticular to destroy the weeds, 
and they also take good care to ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^p^^ 

destroy all sorts of insect successive annual earthings given 
,T . to the Asparagus. After four or 

enemies m the mornmgs, espe- years' growth the ridges dis- 

ciallv during the early summer. appear, and the highest points of 
T, , " , , , . „ . the grounds are those over the 

between the hues of Asparagus crowns of the roots, 
they plant small growing crops 

on the little ridges during the first years of the plantation, but 
are careful not to put the large vegetables there, which would 
shade and otherwise injure the plant. When they plant 
they spread a handful or so of well-rotted manure over each 
root, and they repeat this every year, removing the soil very 
carefully in the autumn down to the roots, putting on them 
a couple of handfuls of rotten manure, and spreading the 
earth over again, so that the rain is continually washing 
nutriment to the roots. When doing this they notice the 
state of the young roots, and any spot in which one has 
perished, or has done little good, they mark with a stick, to 
replace it the following March. Early every spring they 
pile up a little heap of fine earth over each crown. When 



504 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



the plantation arrives at its third year they increase the size 
of the little monnd, or^ in other words^ a heap of finely 
pulverized earth is placed over the stool^ from which some, 
but not much, Asparagus is cut the same year, taking care 
to leave the weak plants and those which have replaced 
others, to themselves for another year. 

They would appear to cut the best of it when it is about 
an inch and a half out of the ground — and here is the only 
objectionable thing about their system. The top is very 
good, but as a rule too short; but such a handle as they 
give you to it ! Now, it may be desirable to have some- 
thing to take hold of, but to cut it as they do here, and as 
we often do in England, is not wise, or conducive to the 
thorough enjoyment of the vegetable. However, it is 
simply a matter of the amount of covering given, or of the 
depth at which it is cut, and therefore of the simplest 
management. The care and culture may be applied as 
described, and the Asparagus cut at pleasure. To procure 
it in a thoroughly blanched condition, the French pile up 
these little mounds of fine earth, which enables them of 
course to get it much longer; besides, they can pull away 
the soil conveniently, and get at the rising stems as low 
down as they like. It is not, however, the fault of the cul- 
tivator that the Asparagus is so much blanched, for I have 
been told by the first fruit and vegetable merchant in Paris 
that his customers would not buy the finest Asparagus ever 
grown if brought in a green state. This is why you see it 
with a shaft like ivory and with the point of the shoot of a 
red, rose, or violet tinge. Then again, some contend 
that Asparagus blanched after the French fashion is far 
more delicious than when it is eaten in the green state, while 
others in England say it is worthless. From what I know 
of their arguments, however, it is clear that those who say 
French Asparagus is worthless, mostly know it from some old 
bundles bought and eaten perhaps a fortnight after they 
were cut in France. Let us hear the French side : — In 
certain localities they do not yet value the distinction 
between blanched and green Asparagus, and occasionally 
prefer the last. That is an error very prejudicial to the 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



505 



consumer's interests. In the green Asparagus there is only 
the point edible ; in the white it is often entirely so, and, 
moreover, it is infinitely more tender and delicate. All 
Asparagus cut when it is green is not fit to be eaten in the 
ordinary way, but may be used cut up small as an accompani- 
ment to other dishes. To serve up green Asparagus is to 
dishonour the table ! In the markets of Paris the green 
Asparagus is worth one franc a bunch, when the blanched is 
worth three francs ; they do not eat it (the green Asparagus) 
— it serves for the manufacture of syrup of Asparagus. — V. F. 
Lebceuf.'''' 

When the plantation reaches its fourth year the little 
mound of blanching earth is increased to fifteen inches in 
height, for then they expect to cut something worth while, 
and these mounds are made in the early part of March ; and 
even after this, as they grow stronger the little mounds are 
increased ; and they always keep a look-out for the feeble 
plants, with a view to replace them. To have Asparagus as 
it ought to be, they say you must cut every day, or every 
two days, according to temperature, so that it may be 
obtained at the right moment ; indeed if they do not do 
this, the shoots become too high and too green. They place 
great importance on obtaining strong and healthy plants ; and 
in the establishment which I visited they have three kinds, 
l^Ordinaire, La Hollande tardive, improved, and La Hative 
d^Argenteuil. The first is described as very fine, the second 
very strong, and the last as the earliest, most productive and 
best. Of course there are various modifications of the plan 
described herein, and in several instances I saw two rows 
placed in a rather wide trench in an alternate manner. As 
to the size and quality of the Asparagus produced by this 
method there can be but one opinion. Mr. Yeitch and 
many other English horticulturists, who know what garden- 
ing is, as well as it is possible to know it, have been, with 
myself, surprised at it. The same diff'erence holds good 
in the forced Asparagus — the slender pipe- shank produc- 
tions of the English forcing- house being miserable compared 
to it. 

Concisely : the French mode of cultivating this delicious 



506 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



vegetable differs from our own diametrically in giving each 
plant abundant room to develope into a large healthy speci- 
men^ in paying thoughtful attention to the plants at all 
times_, and in planting in a hollow instead of a raised bed, 
so that as the roots grow up they may have annual dress- 
ings of enriching manure. They do not, as we do, go to 
great expense in forming a mass of the richest soil far be- 
neath the roots, but rather give it at the surface, which is con- 
sistent with the natui'e of the root. And in this way they 
beat us with Asparagus as thoroughly as Messrs. Meredith, 
Henderson, or Miller, beat them with hothouse grapes. A 
man who knows how to spend two and a half francs for his 
dinner in Paris enjoys Asparagus for a longer time and of 
much better quality than many a nobleman in England with a 
bevy of gardeners. In the first-class restaurants you usually 
pay high for Asparagus, as you do for all other vegetables, 
but it is served very cheaply in many respectable ones — so 
much so, indeed, that it is partaken of by all classes. 

As the culture of this vegetable is so important, and the 
French manage it so well, I venture to go further into 
detail by giving the following account, written by a Avell- 
known and very successful cultivator of Argenteuil, and first 
published in the Gardener's Chronicle. I have made some 
few alterations, with a view to rendering the meaning 
simpler and clearer to the reader : — 

"Preparation of the Ground. — When a convenient piece 
of ground has been selected, it is first of all to be mellowed 
by spreading on its surface a good dressing of horse or 
sheep manure. The ground is to be dug up to a depth of 
sixteen inches in fine weather at the beginning of winter, 
during which season it is to be left at rest. In the month 
of February following — at least, as soon as severe frost is no 
longer to be expected — the ground is to be laid out in 
furrows and ridges, in order to shape shelving beds, and the 
excavations which are to receive the plantations. For this 
purpose the following operations are to be performed. 
First, there are to be drawn the whole length of the ground, 
and by preference from north to south, two lines, leaving 
between them a space of fourteen inches, intended for the 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



507 



site of tlie first half-shelving bed. Reckoning from the inte- 
rior base of this half-shelving bed, a distance of twenty-four 
inches is to be measured for the first trench. The earth 
taken from it will serve to form the shelving bed. The 
second shelving bed, which will 
be a large one, is to measure 
twenty-eight inches in width at 
its base, and fourteen inches in 
height. Next comes the second 
trench, then the third entire 
shelving bed, and so on, until the 
whole piece of ground has been 
occupied. Thus, the first half- 
shelving bed will measure in 
width fourteen inches, and 
in height eight inches ; the 
first trench in width twenty 
four inches, the second en- 
tire shelving bed in width 
twenty-eight inches, and in 
height fourteen inches, &c., as 
shown in the accompanying figure. 
The earth of the shelving beds 
being intended to cover over the 
plants from time to time, these 
beds will gradually diminish in 
height, and the whole piece of 
ground will become nearly level 
at the end of five years, when 
the Asparagus plantation will be 
in full productiveness.'''' [In 
justice to the extensive market 
grower and successful prizetaker 
who thus describes his culture, 
we are bound to respect his dia- 
gram ; but a readier and less precise method is more gene- 
rally pursued, such as that indicated by Fig. 296, roughly 
drawn from memory.] 

" First Year. — The first plantation is to take place during 




508 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



the months of March or Aprils and should be performed in 
the following manner : — In each trench^ through its entire 
length, small holes, eight inches in diameter and about four 
inches deep, must be formed about thirty-six inches distant 
from each other. In the centre of each of them a small 
hillock of earth about two inches high is to be raised, upon 
which the Asparagus plant is to be laid down, care being 
taken to divide the roots equally in every direction ; the 
roots are then to be covered over with half an inch of earth ; 
and one or two handfuls of very good manure are to be 
added, and covered over with about an inch and a half of 
earth, at the same time forming a small hollow of about an 
inch deep over each plant, to indicate its position. In order 
exactly to know the position of the plants, and to shelter 
them and their shoots from accidents, a small stake is to be 
set to each, inclining it at an angle of 45°, in order not to 
Fig. 296. injure the roots, and placing it 

a little away from the plant. 

" Every morning, towards 
the months of April and 

Common mode of forming an ^^V, slugS and snails are 

Asparagus plantation. ^ to be carefully looked for 
and destroyed. Beetles are also much to be feared in 
the Asparagus plantations. Twice every day duiung 
a fortnight it will be well to pursue these insects with rods, 
so as to hinder them from depositing their eggs on the stalks 
of the Asparagus ; these eggs develop at the end of three 
weeks into black maggots or worms, which prey upon 
the Asparagus stems and dry them up. Yet these 
insects are not the only ones which are to be dreaded. The 
white worms (or maggots of tree beetles) are very dangerous, 
and it will be well constantly to put in use the most proper 
means to get rid of them, for they eat the roots and destroy 
the plants. It will be useful also to set mole traps, for 
while tracing their underground roads the moles cut the 
roots. Frequently during the season the plantations should 
be thoroughly cleaned, taking care to never bruise or in any 
way injure the young plants, for any accident to these is of 
course directly prejudicial. 




ASPARAOrS Ct3LTUEE. 



509 



Common vegetables^ siicli as late Potatoes, Cabbages, 
&c._, ought not to be planted on tbe ridges of beds, which, 
however, may be made useful (but only during the first 
years) by growing on them early Potatoes, Lentils, Kidney 
Beans, Salads, and such other vegetables as are of little 
inconvenience from their dimensions. In the month of 
October, during fine and dry weather, the small stalks of 
the Asparagus are to be cut ofi" at six inches above the 
ground. The ground is to be lightly cleaned, and the 
shelving beds must be dug up to a depth of twelve inches, 
maintaining their conical shape. The Asparagus is to be 
lightly covered with manure, the plants being laid bare with 
a flat hoe, for a diameter of eight inches, and up to the 
crowns. Proper care ought to be taken not to injure the 
roots with the implement. On each plant lay one or two 
handfuls of good manure, free fi'om all noxious substances. 
While spreading the manure, mark out with a small stick 
the site of the plants which have failed during the course 
of the year ; these must be renewed in the month of March 
following. The manure is at once to be covered over 
with about three inches of the best mellow earth at hand, 
and over the plants is to be made a small conical hillock 
about two inches high. This operation is the last to be 
performed for the year. 

" Second Year. — In March or April begin by replacing 
the plants which have failed in the preceding year, selecting 
vigorous plants a year old, and setting them in the same 
manner as recommended for the first year. Stakes are to 
be placed near the foot of each plant, always at an angle of 
45°. In the beginning of April a cleaning is to be made 
on the shelving beds and on the grounds ; it will be well to 
perform this operation the day after a sprinkling of rain, in 
order the more easily to break the clods. As soon as the 
Asparagus stems become firm, fasten them to the stakes, in 
order to protect them against the wind, which might break 
them. In the month of October the dry stalks are to be 
cut off at eight inches above the ground ; the shelving beds 
are to be turned up, always lightly hollowing out the 
trenches. Manure is to be spread on the shelving beds, 



510 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



which are then to be dug up. The stakes, having become 
useless,, are to be taken away. Lastly^ the laying bare 
of the roots is to be done by taking away the earthy as 
abeady directed, the dressing of decomposed manure placed 
over them, and lastly, the manure is in its turn covered 
with a couple of inches of the finely pulverized soil. 

" Third Year. — In the middle of the month of March, 
during fine weather, small knolls, fi'om six to eight inches 
high, are to be made over each plant, taking nevertheless as 
a basis the comparative strength of the crowns, more or less 
large, or of a more or less determined development; those 
which may be too feeble, or ha\dng served the preceding 
year to supply the bad ones, or those which had failed, are 
to be covered over with a hillock of only four inches higrh, 
and should then be left to themselves. From the other 
plants, three, or at most four Asparagus heads may be 
gathered ; but they are not to be cut off with an Asparagus 
knife, but removed with the fingers. However, there is a 
particular sort of knife, square-shaped at the end, and having 
teeth on one side, forming a saw, which will be useful to 
take away the earth about the stalk, and will make it easy 
for the fingers to reach the subterranean stock, which care 
must be taken not to injure. With regard to the gathering, 
one finger must be got behind the Asparagus stem at its base, 
and by bending it, it will easily come off the stock. In 
this manner all injury to its neighboui's, which may easily 
happen with an Asparagus knife, will be avoided ; and there 
will not be left any wounded ends, from which the sap will 
flow and spread around, occasioning rapid decay. Care 
should be taken to close up the hole made for the gathering 
of the Asparagus, and the knoll is at once to be formed 
anew. In the month of April, the stakes are to be again 
used, and the stems fastened to them in due time. After 
having, in fine weather, done all that is necessary in the 
way of cleaning, in the month of October the dry stalks are 
to be cut off about ten inches above the ground, and the 
dead rubbish thrown out of the Asparagus plantation. From 
the whole surface of the trenches, and to a depth of four 
inches, the earth is to be taken away and thrown upon the 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



511 



ridges; this earth is to be substituted by a layer of very 
good manure,, which layer is to be of a thickness of about 
an inch and a half^ if night soil is made use of^ or of about 
two inches if it is only common manure. At the same 
time a portion of the end of the old stalks is to be taken 
away^ preserving that nearest to the crown^ so as to indicate 
the exact site of the plants for the fourth year. After 
having spread the manure^ the ridges must be dug up^ and 
the manure covered with an inch or two of earth from 
them^ a small hillock being left over the crown of each plant. 

" Fourth Year. — About the middle of March, in dry 
weather^ or the day after a sprinkling of rain, knolls of the 
height of from ten to twelve inches must be formed over 
each plant with the fine earth from the sides of the ridges. 
The feeble plants marked with a small stick at the pre- 
ceding laying bare, are to be covered over with hillocks of 
a thickness of from four to six inches only. While earthing 
up the Asparagus the ends of the dry stalks are to be taken 
away. The gathering is to take place from the largest speci- 
mens during one month at the most. Then they are to be 
left to run to seed. The most feeble ones are to be spared 
in order to strengthen them. At the second dressing in the 
month of May, earth is taken from the shelving beds, in order 
to cover over, to an extent of an inch or two^ the whole surface 
of the grounds, so as to protect the Asparagus plantation from 
the dryness of the summer. The stakes should be five feet 
high. In the month of October the stalks of the Asparagus 
are to be cut off at fourteen inches above the ground^ and 
the plantation is to be cleared of the rubbish ; manure is to 
be spread on the ridges^ which are to be made up from the 
knolls in the trenches ; and are then to be dug up to a 
depth of sixteen inches. Notwithstanding the manure laid 
upon the shelving beds, the roots of the Asparagus are to 
be laid carefully bare in the manner already described. 
Upon the crowns are to be put a few handfuls of good 
manure, which is to be covered over with two inches of 
good mellow earth ; the little knolls which are to be formed 
over the centre of the plants, are to be over three inches in 
height. 



512 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



" Fifth Year. — The making of hillocks on the Asparagus 
is to begin in the month of March ; they are to be fourteen 
inches high^ and their diameter is to be in conformity with 
the diameter of each specimen or ' stool.'' The gathering is 
to consist of the heads on all the large plants,, and of some 
only on the feeble ones ; the gathering may last two months 
at most. In order to get fine Asparagus^ the heads are to 
be gathered once every day^ or every other day, or every 
third day at farthest, according to the degree of tem- 
perature. This is the way to obtain rosy, red, or violet 
Asparagus. In order to get it green it will be sufficient to 
let the heads grow during four or five days more ; they will 
lengthen and become green. The second dressing is to be 
made as in the preceding years. The stakes are to be put 
in as soon as the necessity is felt, and the stems, having 
regard to the increase of their height and weight, must be 
firmly tied, so that the wind may not disturb them and 
that they may not be broken. In the month of October 
following, the dry stalks are to be cut off at fourteen inches 
above the ground. The plantation is to be cleared, and 
the ridges are to be replenished by adding to them the 
earth of the knolls which have been raised on the plants 
for the gathering. Then the manure is to be spread in the 
manner already indicated ; and the digging up of the ridges 
is next to take place. 

Sixth Year. — When the Asparagus plantation shall have 
reached its sixth yeai^ it will then be in full productiveness. 
The forming of knolls is to take place in March during fine 
and dry weather ; the knolls must always be fourteen inches 
high, reckoning from the subterranean stock. The care to 
be taken is to be the same as in the preceding years, par- 
ticularly with regard to cleanliness and staking. As for 
insects, they will be less to be feared than during the first 
years of the establishment of the plantation. The beetles 
can no longer lay their eggs on the stalks, since they are 
cut during two months, and when allowed to start up the 
time of the laying of eggs is past. In the month of October 
the shehdng beds are to be turned up in conformity with the 
manner shown for the preceding year ; the shelving beds and 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 



513 



the plants are to be manured_, as lias been explained for the 
fom'th year. As the Asparagus plantation may last fifteen 
or twenty years^ the operations and the care to be taken 
are to be repeated from year to year in the manner above 
indicated. Generally, in a well established Asparagus plan- 
tation^ the gatherings reckoning from its beginning, is to 
take place during two months^ whatever may be the climatic 
circumstances under which the plantation is placed. It 
must have been seen that the expense is not very great; 
the chief object is the care which must be taken. The 
main point is to get good plants, in order to obtain good 
produce. By properly following the rules laid down here^ 
satisfactory results will be obtained.''^ 

The mode of forcing Asparagus chiefly consists in digging 
deep trenches 
between beds 
planted for the 
purpose, covering 
the beds with the 
soil and with 
frames, filling in 
the trenches be- 
tween the beds 
with stable 
nure, and 
tecting the 
in the heat. 



Fig. 297. 




ma- 



Preparation for forcing Asparagus. The trenches 
are dug out and filled with stable manure, the earth 
being heaped on the beds. These are covered with 
rough frames, up to the edge of which the heating 
material is piled. 

pro- 
frames with straw mats and litter to keep 
In the beginning of November the pathways 
between the beds of Asparagus are dug up about two feet 
deep, and as much wide. Divide the soil coming from the 
pathway very carefully, and put about eight inches thick of 
it on the surface of the bed. Fill up the trench with good 
new horse-dung, and place frames on the bed. The manure 
should rise as high as the top of the frames, and the lights 
be entirely covered with mats and litter to prevent the heat 
accumulated in the frame from escaping. About a fort- 
night or three weeks after, the Asparagus begins to show 
itself on the surface of the bed. Many market gardeners 
cover the whole of the bed inside of the frame to a thick- 
ness of three or four inches with dung to force more 

L L 



514 



ASPAUAGUS CULTURE. 



quickly the vegetation^ but in this case the manure must 
be removed when the Asparagus begins to shoot. When 
the shoots are about three inches out of the ground they 
may be cut. The mats must be taken off in the day- 
timC; but the heat must be well kept up or the roots and 
buds will fail to push. The beds are forced every second 
year only. The gathering of the Asparagus may continue 
for about two months, but no longer^ or the plantation 
would be injured. When the gathering of the Asparagus 
is over, the frames and dung linings are taken away, and the 
soil which has been dug up from the alleys is put back again. 

The preceding note applies to the forcing of the better 
qualities of Asparagus chiefly. I visited last September 
a place at Clichy in which quite a specialty is made of 
forcing the smaller sized Asparagus. It is the garden of 
M. Caucannier, Place de TEglise, and contains a number 
of iron houses, just on the same plan as those in the 
Jardin Fleuriste, already described. Indeed,, if I mis- 
take not, those in the Fleuriste are copied from them. 
There are frames within each house, just as in many 
propagating houses in England, and beneath them the 
Asparagus is forced for the markets, and in incredible 
quantities. The houses are heated by hot water, and the 
culture in other respects resembles that which is practised 
in forcing gardens in England — that is, when the plants are 
taken up to be forced indoors or in pits. The disturbance 
weakens the roots a good deal, and by this method the 
large table Asparagus is never forced. M. Caucannier 
and other growers produce it specially in a small state for 
cookery. 



515 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

OBSERVATIONS ON SOME OF THE VEGETABLES OF THE PARIS 

MARKET CULTURE OF THE SMALL CARROT THE CAR- 

DOON FORCING THE CAULIFLOWER THE SWEET POTATO 

EARLY POTATOES OLEANDER CULTURE CULTURE OF 

THE ORANGE SHOWING ROSES IN FRANCE FORCING THE 

WHITE LILAC. 

A VISIT to the markets of Paris is sufficient to interest 
many in tlie vegetable culture of tliat capital. There is 
so much difference in the supplies to that market and the 
London one that there is certainly much to be learnt 
on both sides. That so great a difference should exist 
in the supplies of cities so near each other is somewhat 
remarkable. The Parisians make as much use of that 
delicate^ wholesome^, and excellent vegetable Seakale as 
we in England do of the Bread Fruit Tree ; and the 
Briton who leaves London in a hot and dry July^ 
having failed to get a tender vegetable or salad at dinner, 
arrives in Paris next morning, and finds the streets in the 
neighbourhood thickly strewn with every variety as tender 
as if the climate were a perpetual May. 

But, although abundant intercourse has long existed 
between the two countries, the fact that the observers are 
rarely practical men, and therefore not capable of seeing 
differences and their value and causes, and the difficulty of 
getting information about the subjects, noticeable improve- 
ments have not been exchanged from side to side. There- 
fore, in addition to dealing with the subjects in which 
the French are far ahead of us — Salads, Asparagus, and 
Mushrooms, for example — I have thought it well to speak 
of any varieties of vegetables with which we should be 
better acquainted, or which are likely to prove useful, and 

L L 2 



516 



OBSERVATIONS ON SOME OE THE 



to add a few remarks about the culture of any of them 
where desirable. In this I simply do the best I can 
for the time^ and believe the subject is far from being 
exhausted. My acquaintance with it only began in 1867, 
To save trouble in inquiries^ I add that^ should any reader 
find difficulties in getting seeds of any subject mentioned 
in this book true to name, he may be certain of getting 
them of the best quality from MM. Vilmorin^ Andrieux, 
and Co. J of the Quai de la Megisserie^ or of MM. Courtois- 
Gerard and Pavard, Eue du Pont Neuf, Paris. 

Observations on some of the Vegetables of the Paris 
Market. — The Cardoon is much more grown and eaten in 
France than in England,, and its culture is well understood. 
The variety most grown and usually considered the best is the 
Cardon de Tours (a spiny var.). A spineless variety, Car- 
don Plein Inerme, is not sufficiently known. It is as good 
as the former, and preferable on account of not being fiercely 
armed with spines. The Artichoke (Cynara scolymus) 
is grown to a very much larger extent in France than in 
England, and its culture is said to be attended with much 
profit. It is used in every Parisian restaurant. The variety 
considered best is the Gros Vert de Laon. Camus de Bre- 
tagne is the kind that is often used raw. Of Asparagus 
most people agree in considering that of Argenteuil the 
best, though of the distinction between the several varieties 
there is little certainty. Of Beetroots, there is nothiDg to 
surpass our English varieties; the best French one is the 
Longue. It is cultivated to a large extent at Les Vertus, 
near St. Denis, and brought to market cooked, so that the 
smallest portions may be sold with salad. It is used much 
more than with us by the poorer classes, especially with 
Barbe de Capucin in the winter. 

The little Carrot which is grown to such unvarying per- 
fection is the Bouge Courte a Chassis. This and the so- 
called choice varieties of Carrots are far from being always 
obtained true. Cultivated as it is in Paris it is infinitely 
preferable to the larger and coarser sorts grown with 
us, but the diSerence is chiefly owing to the mode 
of growing it. The best salads known are grown in 



VEGETABLES OF THE PATHS MARKET. 517 



the vicinity of Paris,, and among tliem the various Endives 
assume a great importance. Chicoree Fine d^Ete and 
C. Rouennaise are the best summer kinds ; C. de Meaux is 
the large one^ used in a cooked state as we use Spinach ; 
and C. de la Passion is a very large variety^ passing through 
the winter well without protection. The Scarolle for winter 
or autumn salad is a really noble kind of Endive^ with 
smooth leaves^ a vigorous constitution^ fine flavour^ and 
every good quality that such a plant should possess ; and 
yet it is not at all sufficiently known or grown with us. 
The best kind is the Ronde or Verte^ but the Blonde is 
also good. Of the wild Chicory there is an improved variety, 
Chicoree amelioree, which forms little heads four inches or 
so in diameter in early spring, and is then very acceptable 
in a salad-loving country. By putting a cloche over stools 
of this variety, these little heads, may be had all the winter. 
To blanch them slightly is an improvement, but this variety 
must on no account be employed to yield the Barbe, that 
popular Parisian winter salad. That is simply the common 
Chicory. It is grown in vast quantities near Paris, and 
prepared for use chiefly in caves at Montreuil- — Montreuil 
of the Peaches. 

Of Lettuces, as of Endives, the best known are found in 
and sent from the Paris market. The earliest is the Crepe, 
or Petite Noire and the Gotte or Gau ; a fine variety for 
summer use is the Blonde d^Ete; the Palatine or Laitue 
Uousse is also a most tender and delicate variety, keeps 
long, and is worthy of general cultivation ; and the Laitue 
de la Passion is an excellent winter kind, that may be 
grown without a cloche through the winter. In summer 
and autumn the Grosse grise or Brune paresseuse is also 
an excellent variety, forming a good heart. Of the Cos 
lettuces, the Verte Maraichere is the one so largely grown 
and exported for spring use, and the Blonde Maraichere is 
the summer kind preferred and grown by the market 
gardeners. Radishes, we need not say, are found better in 
Paris than anywhere else. The Radish of the Paris markets 
has lately been sent out by English houses under the name 
of French breakfast Radish. The French name of the best 



518 



OBSERVATIONS ON SOME OF THE 



variety of tliis is the Hose Demi-long a bout blanc. The 
earliest Potato is the Marjolin^ the source of an important 
culture on the slopes of the hills above the Bois de Bou- 
logne. It is kept all the winter in the lights and yet free 
from frost_, so that when planted in spring marketable tubers 
are quickly produced^ and the ground when cleared of early 
Potatoes is fit for Haricots in May. Good King Henry (Che- 
nopodium Bonus Henricus); a really good and delicate herb, 
is used to some extent in private gardens, but does not form 
a product of the markets. Arroche or Orach, both of the 
red and white varieties, is much grown in private gardens. 

Of Chervil there are quantities grown which to us seem 
incredible. It is much used in salad. One seed house 
alone sells about 1000 lb. weight of seed of it per annum. 
Bulbous Chervil is an excellent vegetable not found in the 
markets^ but which ought to be grown in all private gardens. 
Such leguminous plants as have curious snail-like seed- 
vessels are occasionally grown under the name of Chenil- 
lettes, to decorate salads and form imitation snails. They 
are of no importance, and with us are rarely seen out of 
botanic gardens, and not often in them. 

The Ciboule, or Welsh Onion, is grown in quantity for 
salad. Tarragon is grown in great quantity for use in 
vinegar, and also in a lesser degree for salads. The Girau- 
mon Turban Gourd (or Potiron Bonnet Turc) is much used 
where the Potiron would be too large. Salsify and Scor- 
zonera are both grown in much larger quantities than with 
us. Of Corn Salad, so very important an article in the 
winter salad consumption of Paris, the Mache Konde or 
Doucette is the best variety for autumn and winter, and 
the Mache Begence d^Italie for spring use. With Cucumbers 
we are far ahead ; with Melons we go in quite opposite 
grooves. The English Melons would not find buyers in the 
Paris market, nor probably would the French in oui's. 
They are eaten in quite different ways in the two countries 
— in France with pepper and salt ; and some people, for 
whom the rich flavour of the English Melons is too much, 
can enjoy those of the Paris restaurants. The large kind 
grown by all the Paris market gardeners is M. Cantaloup, 



VEGETABLES OF THE PARIS MARKET. 



519 



Prescott Fond Blanc. Of the long Turnips,, or Navets^ tlie 
long Hative des Vertns and de Croissy are the best varieties. 
Small Onions are largely used with Peas^ the kind preferred 
being the Blanc Hative^ sown in August — this is a good 
kind. Of their keeping Onions^ Jaune des Vert us is con- 
sidered the best. Sorrel is of importance in the Paris 
markets^ being largely used somewhat as we use Spinach. 
The variety preferred is the Large de Belleville. Of the 
Dandelion there is an improved variety^ good for winter use, 
like the improved Chicory ; the common kind is very largely 
used. 

The Potiron Gros J aune is the enormous gourd of which 
the finest specimen is annually crowned in the market, and 
is the source of some amusement. It is sometimes grown 
about 200 lb. in weight, and last year a specimen was in 
the market which reached 250 lb. It is largely used by 
the poorer classes for making soup in winter. 

In Peas and in Cabbages we are in advance of the French. 
It may, however, be worth noting that a superior and very 
hardy variety of the Choux de Milan — the Gros des Yertus 
— is grown to a vast extent in the neighbourhood of Pon- 
toise, and sent to the Paris market in March and April. 

Brussels Sprouts are grown to a vast extent near Paris, 
especially about Bosny and Noisy. The variety is the 
ordinary one. They are used in much greater quantities 
than with us. 

The Cauliflower is cultivated to great perfection around 
Paris, the varieties used being the Petit Hatif or Petit Sa- 
lomon for earliest use ; the Demi-dur or Gros Salomon for 
summer ; and the Lenormand for autumn. Brocoli is not 
grown by the Paris market gardeners^ the market being 
supplied with Cauliflowers from Brittany in spring. 

It need scarcely be said that Haricots are grown and used 
in France to a degree of which we can have but a poor 
conception. They are used every day in winter, in the 
smallest as well as the grandest restaurants in Paris ; the 
earliest is the Nain Hative de Hollande. The one which 
supplies the quantities of ordinary Haricot is the Flageolet 
Ordinaire, or de Laon. The Bagnolet, or Suisse Gris, is 



520 



CULTURE or THE SMALL CARROT 



excellent for using green^ and for making conserves^ and is 
largely grown for these purposes ; and the Beurre^ or Ha- 
ricot d^ Alger Noir^ is the excellent mange-tout_, which is 
not at all known with us. The pod is quite tender^ of 
a yellowish white^ and it is allowed to become larger than 
those of fully grown Scarlet Runners^ and then cooked entire. 
This vegetable is both distinct and good^ and deserves uni- 
versal cultivation in the British Isles. A new variety, called 
H. Cosse violette, with violet pods_, is also very tender and 
of good flavour. 

Culture of the small Carrot of the Paris Market. — 
Every visitor to the Halles of Paris oi the streets near them 
during the earlier hours of the day, must have noticed 
vast quantities of pretty, dwarf, tender little Carrots. They 
are always fresh, always to be had, and never contain a 
particle of the tissue which makes the coarser Carrots so 
much less valuable. Even when we do grow the best 
varieties of dwarf Carrots in this country, they never present 
the cleanly appearance of those of the Paris market gardens, 
nor are they so tender and good; the following article, 
therefore, on cultivating them both out of doors and in 
frames, by M. Courtois- Gerard, of Paris, may prove useful 
to admirers of this vegetable in its most perfect condition. 
Practically, and in a few words, the success of the Paris 
gardeners Avith the small Carrot results from sowing it, both 
in frames and in the open air, on very rich friable ground — 
the surface for a couple of inches being purely decomposed 
stable manure, and from gi™g it abundance of water when- 
ever it requires it — thus securing quick unchecked growth 
and tenderness of texture. However, we will let this ex- 
perienced cultivator speak for himself: — 

" The common Carrot has produced several varieties, but 
the early or Dutch red, introduced into France about 1800, 
the Demi-long, and the Rouge Courte a Chassis, are the 
chief kinds grown in the market gardens of Paris. 

" Culture in Frames. — At the beginning of December, a 
hotbed is prepared of fifteen or sixteen inches in thickness, 
the heat being allowed to rise to from 65° to 80° Fahr. 
The frames are next placed in position, and filled with 



OF THE PARIS MARKET. 



521 



manure rotted into the state of mouldy mixed with earth to 
the depth of six inches. By nsing this soil we obtain 
Carrots of a brighter red and better quality than when 
grown in garden mould only. "When the heat has reached 
a genial point the seed is sown^ and seven rows of the 
Petite Noire Lettuce are generally pricked into each frame. 
Eut although by this method we get two crops from the 
same frame, we do not think that there is much advantage 
to be gained from it, for it is not certain whether the 
Lettuces produced compensate for the harm that they do to 
the Carrots. These Lettuces are fit to cut in January. 
After they have been gathered, a little mould is spread over 
the place they occupied, and if the weather is dry the 
Carrots are given a slight watering. In the course of 
January, when the crop has grown up, the linings of the 
frames are turned over and raised as high as the top of the 
fr^ame, so as to increase the heat of the bed. At the begin- 
ning of J anuary, a second crop of Carrots is generally sown, 
but in this case a less amount of heat is required, and a 
sowing of Radishes is substituted for the Lettuces. When 
proper pains have been taken, the first Carrots may be 
gathered in the first fortnight of April. If the weather is 
fine during the latter half of the month of March, and the 
fr'ames that cover the Carrots are required for other subjects, 
they may be taken ofi", in which case the Carrots may be 
gathered later. In February and March Carrots are again 
sown on heat, but in the open air. After this period straw 
mats are sufficient to preserve the sowings from the frost. 
These Carrots succeed those which were sowa in December 
and January, and prepare for those sown in the open air. 
After the Carrots sown in February and March are gathered. 
Radishes are sown, and after they are gathered, turnip-rooted 
Celery. 

" Sowing in the open air. — The first sowings in the open 
air are made in September. In the eastern districts they 
sow large quantities at this period. From the commence- 
ment of the earliest frosts care is taken to cover the sowings 
with Htter, which is taken up whenever the weather -is fine 
enough. When this sowing is successfal, the Carrots may 



522 



THE CARDOON. 



be gathered towards the montli of May. Other sowings 
are made in February and March, from which time they 
may be continued regularly until July. But at whatever 
time the sowing takes place, the ground ought to be well 
prepared, and the seed sown broadcast, in the proportion of 
about nine pounds to every acre. After the seed is sown 
the ground is slightly covered, and then trodden down with 
the feet, after which a layer of fine and thoroughly rotted 
manure is spread over the whole ; the ground is then raked 
lightly, and watered whenever it is necessary. As soon as 
the young plants make their appearance, the crop, which is 
generally too thick, is carefully thinned out. Three months 
after the time of sowing, the more forward Carrots may be 
gathered, the results of the latter sowings being left until 
November. When the Carrots are gathered, the neck of 
each is cut, and the roots are prepared, after which they are 
covered with long litter, or else placed in a house for storing, 
so as to have a ready supply during the winter. In the case 
of light and fertile soils they need not be pulled up, as it will 
be only necessary to cover up the Carrot beds, so as to be 
able to gather them when wanted. The market gardeners 
of Meaux preserve their early Carrots by digging trenches in 
the autumn three feet wide, two feet six inches in depth, in 
which they place their Carrots, and cover them with straw 
during the frosty weather. In this way they are able to 
keep them until the end of February or beginning of March, 
which is the time at which they begin to sell.'''' 

The Cardoon. — The Cardoon, being a plant of very vigor- 
ous habit, must be grown in the best and richest soil of the 
garden, and well watered frequently. If it is sown in April 
and not watered abundantly many of the plants will go to 
seed during the summer, for which reason it is better to 
defer the sowing of it until May, when it may be performed 
either in the open ground or in a seed bed. It is better 
to adopt the former method, as the Cardoon having a very 
smooth, fibreless, conical root is ill adapted for transplanting. 
Those, however, who prefer the latter method may sow it 
in a seed bed and plant it out when old enough. In a 
well-dug bed about seven feet wide, two ftm'ows are traced 



THE CARDOON. 



523 




at a distance of about four feet from each other. Marks 
are made along these furrows three feet apart^ and three or 
four seeds planted at each spot thus indicated. If the soil 
renders it necessary a spitful of earth may be removed and 
replaced by well rotted manure^ and the seeds sown about 
an inch deep. The seeds should be sown in quincunx 
fashion. If the weather is dry and warm^ the seeds should 
be well watered, and they will strike in a few days. As 
soon as the little plants are above the ground, the weakest 
should be carefully removed. 

Those who prefer sowing in a seed bed should wait till 
the plants are four or five inches in height and then trans- 
plant them into the open ground with great care, the little 
root being ah'eady pretty long. 
The earth round them should be 
well pressed down and watered, and ^\|v'\ 
the plants shaded until they have — ^ 
again rooted. As it is not until the 
month of August that the Cardoon 
begins to be vigorous, crops of salads 
may be sown and gathered in the 
meantime. It cannot be repeated too 
often that the finest Cardoons can 

T , 1 , • I 1 p , -I Mode of Tying-up the Cardoon 

only be obtamed by irequent and for Blanchiiig. 

copious watering, the dose being 

increased as they grow larger. If the weather is warm 
and dry, at least a wateringpotful of water should be 
given to each plant every other day. In the month of 
September the blanching process is commenced, and this is 
done in quite a difi'erent way to that practised in this 
country. The plants are simply tied up rather closely, and 
then a lot of long litter placed round each in a close tidy 
way, the straw or long litter being tied by small bands of 
the same material. The longest leaves of the head are left 
free above this blanching material. But the Cardoon is so 
fiercely armed that it requires a little care to get at the 
great plants to tie them up, Sec, without being severely 
pricked. To obviate this three sticks are used — -one of 
them short, and connected with the other two by strong 




524 



FORCING THE CAULIFLOWER. 



twine. The engra^dng will show this simple contrivance 
and the mode of using it at a glance. The workman 
standing at a safe distance pushes the two handles under 
the plants and then going to the other side and seizing them^ 
soon gathers up the fiercely armed leaves. Another work- 
man then ties it up in three places^ and then the straw is 
placed around so as to quite exclude the lights and also tied 
up like the Cardoon itself. In three weeks the vegetable is as 
well blanched and as tender as could be desired. To blanch 
the Cardoon properly and render the leaves perfectly tender, 
it should be deprived of light and air for at least three 
weeks. It is then cut just below the surface of the earth, 
and divested of its straw covering ; the withered leaves are 
sliced off and the root trimmed up neatly. If it is desirable 
to preserve the Cardoon for winter use it should be simply 
tied up, as before directed, in the month of November, and 
uprooted carefully with a ball of earth attached to it, and 
plunged in fine rotten manure or leaf-mould in a dark 
cellar. The decayed leaves should be removed every week 
or so. Under this treatment they become sufficiently 
blanched in a fortnight, and may be preserved in a good 
condition for at least two months. 

Forcing the Cauliflower. — The best Cauliflower forced 
around Paris is the Petit Salomon. It is sown in the 
open air during the first ten days of September on very rich, 
light, and fine earth. When the young plants are well up 
— that is to say, commence to show the first two leaves — 
they are pricked out into shallow frames, surfaced with a 
couple of inches of thoroughly rotten manure. They are 
very particular about transplanting them when very young, 
and before they are drawn, watering before moving the 
young plants, so that they may be removed with the least 
possible mutilation of the roots, and they are pricked in 
with the finger at about three inches one from the other. 
At the end of November the plants are strong and hardy, 
but they must not be allowed to grow too quick, and 
therefore they are again transplanted, leaving a little more 
space between them. This second transplanting is to pre- 
vent the too rapid growth of the plant, and to enable it 



THE SWEET POTATO. 



525 



better to resist the cold. So long as it does not freeze^ it 
is better to leave the plants exposed to the air. When it 
does freeze they are protected as much as need be^ opening 
the frames, so that the plants may enjoy the sun, and taking 
care to protect them carefully with straw mats at night, 
sometimes surrounding the sides with litter to prevent 
the entrance of cold in that direction. In February these 
Cauliflowers are planted on gentle hotbeds from which 
Lettuces have been cut. Between the Cauliflower plants 
are placed the Lettuce known as the Gotte and the Petit, 
and Gros Salomon Cauliflowers are planted alternately, so as 
to insure a succession. Other kinds of vegetables are placed 
between by some, but the Laitue Gotte is considered the 
best and most profitable for this purpose. Gradually as 
the season advances more air is given to the plants, and 
when they get too near the glass the frames are elevated 
by placing stiff wads of straw under their corners. About 
the beginning of April, if the weather be fine, the frames 
are removed, that they may be used in the culture of Melons. 
In case of late frosts, an arrangement is made to give some 
protection by means of straw mats. About the 10th or 
12th of April the hearts are seen forming in the Petit 
Salomon, and eight days afterwards in the Gros Salomon. 
Thenceforward the Cauliflowers are visited every two days, 
and when the heart of one is seen formed as big as a 
hen^s egg, some leaves of the lower part of the plant are 
broken and laid upon it, so that it may be deprived of 
light and thus kept perfectly white. When these leaves 
wither or shrivel they are taken ofi*, a fresh one put 
over the heart, and then the old ones laid on top. They 
are thus regularly watched, blanched, and cut when at 
perfection. 

The Sweet Potato. — Louis XV., it is said, was exceed- 
ingly fond of this vegetable, and had it grown for his table 
in the gardens of the Trianon and Choisy-le-Roi. From 
his day until about the year 1800 the Sweet Potato was 
relegated to hothouses and botanic gardens, but about the 
last named period M. le Comte Lelieur, who was appointed 
manager of the royal gardens, had some grown at St. Cloud. 



526 



THE SWEET POTATO. 



The Sweet Potato soon became fashionable once more^ and 
tbe many market gardeners of the day grew the vegetable 
largely. Later its cultivation was again abandoned for the 
sake of more profitable plants_, and at the present time 
MM. Decouffle and Gontier are the only persons who pay 
any attention to it. 

Instead of stopping to inquire into the modifications that 
the cultivation of the Sweet Potato has undergone,, we will 
confine ourselves to saying that at present three varieties are 
cultivated — the red, the yellow^ and the New Orleans ^dolet. 
They are all grown in hotbeds^, and they are propagated in 
the following manner : — At the beginning of January a few 
tubercles are selected from those which appear to be the best 
preserved, and planted in a hotbed, the frame of which must 
be covered with mats during the night. In the course of a 
short time they begin to grow, and the young buds must 
be taken ofi" when they reach the height of from two 
and a half inches to three and a half inches ; they are then 
pricked into pots of about two and a haK inches in dia- 
meter, which are plunged in heat and covered with a 
bell-glass, after which they may be watered as they 
require. As soon as the young plants strike, an event 
that soon takes place, the bell-glass must be lifted gradually 
until they are strong enough to dispense with it altogether 
without drooping. 

Such readers as care about this root — which, by the way, 
is of agreeable flavour when well cooked — may grow it most 
readily and efiectively by placing it in a frame or pit after 
the spring crop has been taken out ; or, indeed, on a ridge 
like the ridge Cucumber; but the pit or frame is the safest 
way generally — the lights being taken ofi*. As pits and 
frames are frequently empty from about the 1st of June till 
autumn, room might be readily spared for it without loss, 
and a useful vegetable added to our stock, which, fine as it 
is, is yet in want of variety. The roots may be bought in 
Covent-garden. The red variety is the best. The way to 
treat them is to pot them about the end of April ; start 
them in a gentle heat, and have them fresh and stubby for 
planting out in the pit or frame about the 1st of June. 



EAKLT POTATOES. 



527 



They would be tlie better for the lights for a few days. In 
this way they will be found to do better than when grown 
in a stove, and probably prove a more grateful vegetable 
than the Chinese yam in its best state. 

Early Potatoes. — The supply of early Potatoes for the 
market is an important branch of industry about Paris, a 
considerable portion of the slopes of the hill sides to the 
north of St. Cloud being devoted to it. I only speak of 
the subject here to point out that the cultivators commonly 
allow the Potatoes to sprout vigorously indoors before plant- 
ing them out, and thus secure crops so early as to have 
them out of the ground in time to put in summer crops. 
Some of the houses of the cultivators are stored with 
Potatoes freely exposed to the light in winter. It matters 
little where they are placed, 
provided they enjoy plenty 
of light and are kept per- 
fectly free from frost. The 
usual plan is to have a room 
fitted up with rough shelves, 
and placing the Potatoes in 
the old oyster and fruit 
baskets of the markets, 

store them on the shelves Early Potatoes arranged for " Sprouting " 

indoors. 

till ready to plant out. 

Or the shelves may be dispensed with, and rough wooden 
trays, with feet like those shown in the accompanying figure, 
used instead. These may be piled one above another, and 
may be quickly made out of old boards by the commonest 
workmen. 

Only one layer of tubers should be placed in each basket 
or box. The variety used is a Kidney Potato, the Marjolin : 
the roots are in preparation as described so early as No- 
vember, and are planted out in February, the crop being 
gathered in May and June. There is no need to warm the 
place they are in, except indeed to keep the frost from 
getting in, as the tubercles get on very well without it. In 
case they show signs of weakness, the windows of the house 
should be opened whenever the state of the weather allows 



Fig. 299. 




528 



OLEANDER CULTURE. 



it to be done without danger. Planted with all the pains 
necessary for the preservation of the young shoots^ Potatoes 
treated in this way come to perfection much sooner than 
those which are planted without any previous preparation ; 
indeed all the gardeners who supply the Paris markets with 
early Potatoes prepare their seed in the way we have de- 
scribed above. 

Oleander Culture. — Visitors to the Continent in the 
summer months can hardly fail to be struck with the em- 
ployment of certain plants for decorative purposes^ of which 
we in this country make comparatively little use. Here, if 
a few Orange trees or Portugal Laurels, perchance a 
Pomegranate, are grown in tubs and put on the terrace in 
summer time, it seems to be considered that enough has 
been done in that way. There is no reason, however, why 
many other plants should not be used in the same manner. 
Some may remember the beautiful eflPect produced on a quay 
fronting the lake of Lucerne by a number of standards of 
this kind, including not only the plants mentioned, but 
Pittosporums, Yellow Jasmines, Evergreen Oaks, Euonymus, 
Aucubas, and Figs. At Vienna a similar assortment may 
be seen in front of some of the principal cafes, where one 
may sit in the open street under the shadow of the Pome- 
granate and the Oleander. 

This latter plant, too, is an immense favourite with the 
Parisians. In fact, the Oleander forms, with the Myrtle and 
the Pomegranate, one of the most important articles of 
Parisian commercial horticulture. The reasons for this are 
obvious — the elegant habit, glossy foliage, profusion of 
bright rosy or white flowers, endowed, moreover, with an 
agreeable almond-like perfume, offer recommendations 
hardly to be exceeded by those of other plants. The 
culture, moreover, is easy. Indifferent as to the treatment 
it receives in winter, it may be kept in cellars or garrets — 
almost anywhere, in fact ; hence its frequency abroad in the 
windows of the artisan and at the doors of the merchant's 
office. The shrub may be propagated either by layers or by 
cuttings ; but of late years, in Prance, the former method 
has been abandoned, as it is found that cuttings produce 



OLEANDER CULTURE. 



529 



plants of better habit, and in greater numbers. In this 
country the Oleander is rarely seen in perfection, and most 
probably because it is generally grown indoors. The treat- 
ment given it on the Continent insures the plant a perfect 
rest in winter : as it cannot grow in the cellars, caves, and 
dark orangeries in which it is placed. Therefore, when put 
ill the open air, the accumulated growing power of the 
plant pushes forth equably and immediately : the shoots^ 
being produced in the open air, are perfectly indifferent to 
any changes they may have to undergo therein, and the 
plants enjoy the full sun and uninterrupted light. 

It may be noticed in two different conditions about 
Paris — in the large specimen form in tubs of various sizes, 
and as small neat plants in six-inch pots. These last 
are sold in great numbers in the markets, and flower as 
abundantly as the best managed of the large specimens. 
The finest examples of large specimens I have ever seen are 
those in the garden of the Luxembourg Palace, and I have 
much pleasure in giving the following account of their cul- 
tivation by Monsieur Riviere fils, son of the talented and 
excellent superintendent of the Luxembourg Gardens. 
Judging by the habit of the Oleander, as generally seen 
with us, it might be supposed that it would not make an 
ornamental tree for a terrace, but nothing can be finer than 
the immense specimens seen in the Luxembourg Gardens, 
the heads being as round and dense as a Pelargonium grown 
by Mr. Turner, and sometimes as much as ten feet through ; 
and as for the little plants grown in six-inch pots, nothing 
can be prettier. They are certainly far handsomer objects 
than Orange trees, grow equally well or better in tubs, 
and are more worthy of culture in this way. 

" This beautiful shrub is a native of Algeria and the south 
of Europe. In a state of nature, it prefers damp and 
fresh soil; it is consequently found in abundance on the 
banks of rivers and the edges of marshes. In the wild 
state it rarely reaches the height of more than from three 
to five feet, but under cultivation it may grow even to nine 
or ten feet. Its flowers are of a delicate rose colour, and 
from seed horticulturists have succeeded in obtaining yellow, 

M M 



530 



OLEANDER CULTURE. 



white, and double-flowering varieties, which form some of 
the most beautiful ornaments of our gardens. This plant 
contains abundance of sap, which is very poisonous, and 
consequently very dangerous ; it is therefore advisable never 
to put any of the flowers in the mouth, and to take care 
that no children should be allowed near the plants. The 
hotter the district in which the plant is grown, the more 
poisonous is the sap. 

"The Oleander puts forth its flower-bearing branches a 
year in advance, and then blossoms for two consecutive 
years, so it is as well not to cut them down in the autumn 
after the first time of flowering. The beautiful specimens 
so much admired in the Gardens of the Luxembourg during 
the fine weather are from sixty to one hundred years old. 
They are grown in tubs three or four feet square, and in a 
compost made in the following proportions : half soil and cow- 
dung, a quarter rotten stable manure, a quarter turfy heath 
mould ; the whole being well mixed at the time the tubs 
are filled. The operation of re-potting should be performed 
every five years, about the month of May. The sides of 
the tubs being moveable, the earth is taken away from the 
roots of the tree, which is itself lifted up about three inches, 
so as to remove the soil all round it. This being done, 
broken flower-pots, or similar substances, are thrown into 
the bottoms of the tubs for the purpose of drainage, as is 
usually done with large shrubs planted in this manner. 
The shrub is then lowered into its former place, and covered 
up with the mixture just described. 

" The Oleander is generally placed out of doors about the 
10th of May, and as this plant grows naturally under a 
burning sky, it is advisable to give it as much sun as pos- 
sible. A few days after it is put out, the surface of the 
soil in the tubs should be covered with cow-dung, and 
during the whole of the summer season they should be 
copiously watered at least three times a week. As soon as 
October comes, the waterings are diminished, and all the 
dung that is not entirely decomposed is taken away, the 
surface of the soil being stirred up with a pointed stick to 
make it more permeable. The Oleander being extremely 



OLEANDER CULTURE. 



531 



sensitive to cold, the plants should be taken under cover 
once more about the 15th of October, where they must 
remain until the 10th of May, during which time they 
ought not to be watered more than three or four times 
every month. In France the Oleander tree is attacked by 
a parasite called the Chermes nerii, which does it a great 
deal of injury. While in the greenhouse no pains should 
be spared to deliver it from its enemy by means of a stiff 
dry brush. The mischief caused by this insect will often 
kill the tree ; prompt means must therefore be taken to free 
the trees from this pest as soon as it makes its appearance. 
If, in spite of all your care, the Chermes still keeps up its 
depredations, you must not hesitate to prune out all the old 
wood that is attacked. By this means the evil may be 
entirely remedied, a new set of shoots appearing and bearing 
flowers the following year.^^ 

The preceding details refer exclusively to the treatment 
of the larger specimens. The pretty little free-blooming 
Oleanders are grown about Paris in pots, five or six inches 
in diameter, in sandy soil, and these pots they very soon 
fill with roots. They are plunged all the summer in the 
open ground, and grown at all other seasons near the glass 
in those low houses so much in vogue in Parisian nurseries 
and gardens. They flower profusely, and receive the 
same treatment as Orange trees, as regards housing in 
winter. They are allowed to rise with an undivided stem 
for about four inches, and then break ofl" into several 
branches. There should be no difiiculty in growing them 
wherever there is a sunny shelf in the greenhouse, by 
securing a clean, while discouraging a soft or luxuriant 
growth, giving them a rather dry rest in winter, and 
abundant water and light in summer. In winter any cool 
house will do to store them, or even a shed. 

Culture of the Orange. — In the following account of 
the cultivation of the Orange by Mr. H. Jamin fils, the 
son of the most successful cultivator of it in Paris, it will 
be clearly seen w^hy and how we fail, and why a person 
with an old coach-house or any other rough structure with 
a few sashes or windows on its north side may grow hand- 

M M 2 



532 



CULTURE OF THE ORANGE. 



somer Orange trees than those with the fairest of conserTa- 
tories. It should be understood that it refers to the culture 
of Orange trees for placing in the open air in summer, and 
not with a view of growing them for the sake of their 
fruit. Where fruit is required from Orange trees in this 
country an entirely different system must be pursued^ and 
there are signs that before long all the finer Oranges will 
be abundantly grown under glass with us. 

" The Orange is propagated by grafting on the stock raised 
from seeds of Citrus Medica (the Common Lemon), or from 
those raised from seeds of the Common Bitter Orange. For 
the trade, plants grafted on the Lemon stock are the most 
suitable, the Lemon growing more ^dgorously than the wild 
Orange tree ; but to secure the plant long life, the latter 
is the most preferable. The reason of this will be easily 
understood; the difference between the Lemon and the 
Orange is much the same as between the Quince and the 
wild Pear : like the Quince, the Lemon makes all its roots 
at the surface of the soil, the wild Orange goes deeper, and 
consequently the tree is better able to resist the wind and 
the vicissitudes of the season; naturally there is more 
analogy between the two woods, and the result of experi- 
ments is that the plants live much longer. An Orange tree 
grafted on the Lemon may live about a hundred years ; 
after that time it decays and perishes ; an Orange grafted 
on its wild congener may live over 300 years — witness the 
Grand Bourbon in the Orangery at Versailles, near Paris, 
which tree is now more than 400 years old, and is grafted 
on the wild Orange. 

Sow the seeds early in the spring in a light but not too 
sandy soil, and in pots (twenty-five to thirty per pot) ; put 
the pots upon a dung-bed (lukewarm), and keep the soil 
fresh, but do not have any steam in the frame, and to pre- 
vent this give a little air. When the seeds have come up, 
encourage them to gro\^ to three or four inches high. 
Afterwards put them in a warmer bed, and keep a damp 
warm atmosphere in the frame ; shade them against the 
burning rays of the sun ; and when they are seven or eight 
inches high, give them a little air^ increasing it as they get 



CULTURE OF THE ORANGE. 



533 



stronger. Let them pass through the winter in a green- 
house, where the temperature must not descend lower than 
40° Fahrenheit, and in early summer put them on another 
hotbed in the open air plunged in leaf mould or cocoa fibre. 
Leave them plunged on this hotbed through the summer, 
and give them plenty of water, and from time to time a 
little liquid manure. 

About the end of August in the same year graft them by 
the same method as that practised for Roses in the winter, 
and put them on a hotbed, keeping as much damp vapour 
about them as possible. Shade them during the sunshine, 
cover at night, and keep them close as long as the grafts 
are not well united together; they will be safe long before 
the early frost. Keep them in the frame during the winter, 
and the next spring divide and pot them in rich light soil 
mixed with a very little silver sand to prevent the soil be- 
coming hard : put the pots on a hotbed in a frame, and 
after they are rooted give them plenty of air. In the 
middle of J une, make a hotbed in the garden and put them 
on it without any covering whatever, giving plenty of 
water during the hot weather, and three or four waterings 
of liquid manure to encourage active growth. Before the 
first frost they must be housed, and they will do through 
the winter in a greenhouse where the temperature is kept 
three or four degrees over the freezing point. 

During the spring of the following year pot the plants 
afresh, and place them on a hotbed covered with a frame ; 
keep it close until the roots begin to shoot, and give 
air carefully ; shading the frame against the burning rays 
of the sun, and when frosts are no longer to be feared, 
taking the lights off" entirely. When they have done their 
growth, and the wood is sufficiently ripened, pot them afresh, 
and leave them in a greenhouse for a week or two. In 
June make a hotbed in the open aii', covered five or six 
inches with dung-mould or cocoa refuse, and put them in 
it. This is the last season during which the Orange need 
be grown upon a hot dung-bed. The greatest obstacle to 
the success of the Orange as a terrace-plant is the persis- 
tence of the gardeners and nurserymen in treating it as a 



534 



CULTURE OF THE ORANGE. 



greenhouse subject. I do not mean to say tlie Orange should 
be treated like common slirubs_, but it is possible^ with very- 
little care^ to grow them in England almost as well as in 
northern France. 

Many writers on this subject give the south exposure as 
the best for an orangery^ and therein is the mistake. To 
insure the success of Oranges grown in boxes or in pots^ 
they must not in any case be allowed to grow in the 
houses ; all their growth must be made out of doors. It 
is a matter of fact,, that if the orangery is to the souths no 
matter what the trouble you take to prevent their starting, 
the plants will begin to shoot a long time before the 
weather is mild enough to permit of their being placed in 
the garden. A good orangery should have a northern ex- 
posure, with plenty of windows to admit the light, and 
every convenience to give full air when it is not frosty. 
It will be very easy to heat the orangery in such a position, 
as the temperature required is only two or three degrees 
over the freezing point. It must be remembered that 
Oranges are grown out of doors all the year round in parts 
of France and Spain where it freezes every winter. If the 
plants, after all the care taken to prevent their growth in 
the houses, begin to vegetate, and if the young shoots are 
more than an inch in length, it would be far preferable to 
cut them back than to let them retain a growth which is 
sure to be disfigured and spoiled in the open air. 

The watering must be very carefully done, as too much 
water would be more pernicious than too little, and espe- 
cially for the large plants, where the soil is in greater 
quantity ; one or two injudicious waterings are enough to 
kill the best established plants. Good drainage in the 
bottom of the box or pot will prevent many accidents. In 
the winter they want very little water. Before watering them 
the grower should feel the leaves of the tree, and if flabby, 
as though on the point of flagging, it is time to give them 
water. This appUes only to the large plants, the large 
quantity of soil employed for them keeping its moisture 
for a long time. The small plants must be watered more 
frequently, but stiU with great moderation in winter. During 



SHOWING ROSES IN FRANCE. 



535 



tlie summer water must "be given freelj;, but not in excess. 
The best time to give it is in the morning ; and at night 
the plants will require a little syringing on the leaves, but 
only in the hottest time of the year. Liquid manure given 
with great moderation will do them good and quicken their 
vegetation. The small plants which have passed beyond the 
hotbed stage should be potted in a very rich light soil, and 
not too sandy, say nine parts of soil divided as follows : — ■ 
Three of maiden loam, two and a half of yellow loam, one 
and a half of old dung mould, one of peat, and one of sand. 
In potting plants of a larger size, the soil should be a little 
stronger, and be composed as follows : — Three and a half of 
maiden loam, three of yellow loam, one of thoroughly rotten 
dung, a quarter of peat, and one part of sand.'''' 

Showing Roses in France. — Rose-growing friend has 
suggested to me that it might be well to mention any 
novelties in arrangement adopted by the French in showing 
Roses, but I know of little worthy of recommendation. 
The great exhibition of Roses at Brie Comte Robert — sur- 
prising accounts of which appeared in the daily papers at 
the time — -was, in some respects, a very different affair to 
what might have been expected from the reports of it 
spread abroad. Brie Comte Robert is situated in a very 
pleasant country, twenty miles or so from Paris — a country 
without hedges or ditches, yet picturesque and pretty from 
the number of fruit trees dotted over the land, and with (at 
the time of my visit) the ears of ripening wheat bending 
into the straight well-made roads — a country with rich sandy- 
loam and gentle hills, like parts of Kent, and for the main 
part covered with wide level spreads of wheat and vines. 
Brie Comte Robert is an ordinary and rather straggling 
little French town, with an interesting old church traced 
with the beautiful art of the olden time, and grey with the 
lichens of a thousand years ; and finally. Brie Comte Robert 
has a fete and a great Rose-show, as all the world has been 
informed. 

The Rose-show, althoiigh pretty and remarkable of its 
kind, is not quite a marvel, but simply an adjunct to the 
village fair. Now, the fete of a small place like this is not 



536 



SHOWING ROSES IN FRANCE. 



at first sight, or when examined in detail, a thing to be 
enraptured with. Imagine a grassy yard or small field, in 
the centre of which are a few tables, and the little hut of a 
person who divines the future ; and all round the margin, a 
lot of small, meagre, dirty, canvas tents occupied with 
various things, from temporary restaurants and gingerbread 
stalls down to diminutive billiards and little games in which 
the yokels of the district invest a sou a time, and now and 
then win a trifling work of art worth about a centime. 
Imagine, in short, the mildest and smallest corner of Donny- 
brook fair, with every drop of " divilment^'' squeezed out 
of it, and you have a pretty good idea of the sight that 
greeted my eyes as I entered the show-yard of Brie Comte 
Robert. But at one end there was a very large oblong tent, 
and on entering that a very difi'erent sight presented itself. 
Here all was fragi^ance and beautiful colour. All the Boses 
were placed on the ground — no stages of any kind being 
used. First of all, there ran right round the great oblong 
tent a sloping bed of sandy earth, about five feet wide, covered 
with young Barley, the seed of which had been sown eight 
or ten days before. On this were thickly placed the Boses 
—eight rows deep, or thereabouts. They were for the 
greater part shown in small earthenware bottles, about five 
inches high, with long narrow necks and wide globose 
bases; and, placed amongst the Barley-grass, they looked 
very well indeed. Generally three or more Boses were 
placed in each bottle, which was made of ordinary garden- 
pot stuff, and of the same colour ; and they looked so much 
better than those of glass used by some exhibitors, that 
their use should be made compulsory. Thus the most con- 
spicuous thing in the tent was a dense bed of Boses around 
its sides. In the central parts of the tent there were beds 
of various shapes in which the Boses were plunged in moss, 
and mostly arranged in masses ; for example, a bed of 
700 blooms of General Jacqueminot, edged with a line of 
Aimee Vibert ; a bed of Madame Boll, edged with white 
and red Boses, all the flowers plunged singly in dark green 
moss, and so on. The competitors vied rather in quantity 
than in quality, and one exhibitor showed as many as 600 



PORCIXG THE WHITE LILAC. 



537 



varieties or supposed varieties — certainly lie had that 
number of bottles. Others showed large numbers also^ but 
in most cases the Roses were inferior to those seen at an 
English show. As for the varieties^ they were chiefly such 
as abound in England. There were quantities of that line 
Rose^ Marechal Niel^ to be seen^ one bed of it being ten feet 
in diameter, the blooms plunged singly in moss. The 
largest exhibitor grouped his flowers very prettily by arrang- 
ing wa\y lines of yellow and white varieties through the 
long mass of rose and dark-coloured ones. 

FoRcixG THE White Lilac. — The production of the white 
Lilac seen so abundantly in Paris during the winter 
and spring is often a source of curiosity. To meet 
with a mass of it in October, quite white and deliciously 
sweet, is a pleasant surprise to the English visitor. You 
may see large bunches of it in every little flower-shop 
in the month of January, and it is always associated 
with the early Violet and the forced Rose. This Lilac 
is the common kind, and yet it is perfectly white. 
Erench florists have tried the white variety, but they do 
not like it — it pushes weakly and then does not look of so 
pure a colour as the ordinary Lilac one. They force the 
common form in gi^eat quantities in pots, and to a greater 
extent planted out, as close as they can stand, in pits for 
cutting. 

The plants that are intended for forcing are cut around 
with a spade in September, to induce them to form flower- 
buds freely, and they are at first j udiciously introduced to a 
cool house, but after a little while given plenty of heat, in 
fact, from 25° to nearly 40° C. = 77° to 104°*^ E. At the 
same time abundant humidity is supplied, both at the root 
and by means of the syringe, but the chief point is, that 
from the day the plants are placed under glass they are not 
allowed to receive a gleam of light, the glass being com- 
pletely covered with the paillassons, or neat straw mats, such 
as are much used for covering frames, pits, and all sorts 
of garden structures in winter. Thus they get the Lilac to 
push freely, and gather its white blooms before the leaves 
have had time to show themselves. The great degree of 



538 



l^ORCING THE WHITE LILAC. 



heat — a degree wMcli we never think of giving to anything 
of the kind in England, and the total shade to which they 
are subjected, effect the bleaching. The French commence 
to cut the white Lilac at the end of October, and continue 
the operation till it comes in flower in the open ground. In 
the same establishments enormous quantities of Roses are 
forced, small, pretty, and unopened rose»buds being in great 
demand in Paris. 



539 



CHAPTER XX v." 

" Went out at early morning, when the air 
Is delicate with some last starry touch, 
To wander through the Market-place of Flowers 
(The prettiest haunt in Paris), and make sure 
At worst that there were roses in the world." 

E. B. BrowninGo 

FLOWER^ FRTJIT, AND VEGETABLE MARKETS LIST OF PLACES 

IN WHICH THE MORE INSTRUCTIVE FEATURES OF PRACTICAL 
HORTICULTURE MAY BE SEEN — THE CLIMATES OF PARIS AND 
LONDON COMPARED. 

Something about tlie markets is surely not out of place in 
a book on the gardens of Paris^ for all places where the pro- 
duce of gardens is to be seen in ics fullest perfection ought 
assuredly to be as interesting as any garden^ and so they 
are when orderly and spacious enough to be seen by others 
than the porters and small tradesmen who force their way 
in daily. No garden in existence possesses half the interest 
of the flower, fruit_, and vegetable departments of the fine 
Halles Centrales, and it is an interest that is perpetual, for 
every day brings its fresh materials, every week its changes 
of supply. About twelve o^clock at night, before Paris has 
gone to bed, the growers have already arrived on the spot 
and begin to expose their freshly gathered produce in the 
market or on the wide footways of the streets around, and 
for eighteen hours after that time the whole scene is one of 
animation and bustle. 

There is no market where wholesale business is better 
arranged or more expeditiously done than here ; but 
what interests us most are the provisions made for the 
retail trade — for the purchases of the general pubKc. 
In Paris far more than in London it is the custom to 
go or send to the market daily in every class of house, 
rich or poor. Thus they are not dependent on the 



540 TLOWER, FRUIT, AND VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



greengrocer, ^hose stock is often yellow on his hands, but 
go where numbers of competitors are placed side by side, 
and where from the nature of the arrangement the majority 
of vegetables exposed must be fi'esh. To secure them in 
that state is oui' chief want. As regards the quality of 
the products when delivered by the grower, there is rarely 
anything to complain of, for the market gardener is usually 
an excellent cultivator ; but the bruising and filth and delay 
they encounter before reaching the customer in London 
often render them barely edible, while the very poor, in 
buying the cheapest, often get that which is less fitted for 
human food than the garden refuse thrown to the pigs in 
many country places. Everybody knows the utility and 
even the necessity of abundance of fresh vegetables to 
keep man in perfect health. I believe that the propor- 
tion of vegetables eaten by the humbler classes of Paris 
and London is as seven to one, while all the advantages of 
as perfect freshness and wholesomeness as can be secm'ed in 
a great city are with the former. The arrangement of the 
markets has much to do with this difference. 

Our people are great consumers of the universal Potato, 
which suffers little from carriage or keeping ; but it is almost 
impossible for them to use any other vegetable as a regular 
article of food, while the French workmen have a daily 
variety. There is no country in the world where vegetables 
can be grown more abundantly and cheaply than in the 
country round London, which can pour its produce into 
the great centre in an hour or two by rail, and yet for the 
want of a sufficiency of markets, space, and order, the public 
is to a great extent deprived of a benefit second to none 
other. As for om' chief fruit and vegetable market, our 
famous Covent Garden, it is a disgTace to civilization. So 
long as the largest and richest city in the world depends 
upon Covent Garden as at present arranged, for its fruits and 
vegetables, so long must it find them very deficient. Why, 
the want of room alone is sufficient to frequently make 
important differences in the prices, not to speak of the 
treatment the produce gets at all times, and especially in wet 
weather, the piles of baskets that convey it to market being 



! 



FLOEWR, FRUIT, AND VEGETABLE MARKETS. 541 

invariably heaped up over loads of dung. What a contrast 
between the central market in Paris and this famous spot ! 

Can we not secure a good wide market accessible to river, 
rail,, and streets somewhere on the new Embankment, and 
leave Covent Garden to some one branch of the trade? 
Can we do nothing to remedy a state of things which is not 
only discreditable to our system of managing such matters, 
but must have a positively bad effect on the supplies of 
almost every family that invests in a Cauliflower? The 
new cattle market at Islington and the new meat market 
in the City are things to be proud of — they, like the 
Thames Embankment, are really worthy of London and 
the Victorian age ; but as yet we do not seem to have 
moved a step towards the establishment of a fruit, vege- 
table, and flower market. Were this done with as broad 
and excellent an aim as has been shown in the two markets 
just named, we should have a feature added to London 
which from its nature would assuredly be of the greatest 
utility and benefit to the public at large. We should also 
have a grand exhibition of all that is fresh and lovely, 
indicative of the fecundity and beauty of nature and the 
industry of man throughout the year, and presenting new 
objects of interest every day. 

In the Paris market, in addition to every provision for 
wholesale trade, there are streets of stalls containing every- 
thing the purchaser requires^ classified so that the neat and 
well-to-do market women who vend the same sorts of produce 
are brought into close proximity and competition with one 
another. The advantages gained by the public are obvious — 
the thrifty housewife has not only the opportunity of pur- 
chasing everything good and at a moderate price ; she also has 
an immense variety to choose from, and can compare prices. 
But it is needless to enumerate all the blessings that a good 
retail and wholesale market confers upon its neighbourhood. 
One of them, however, we do not often think of, and might 
omit were it not that Mr. Sala admiringly alluded to it 
recently in London. Above all advantages, said he, is that 
so plainly written in large letters — no credit ! In those 
little streets of neatly arranged stalls in all the Paris markets 



542 FLOWER, FRUIT, AND VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



the name and number of the occupant is plainly printed ; 
there is usually a free passage between each two rows, 
along which the purchaser can leisurely walk and survey 
the produce, and in fact there is every convenience for 
both purchaser and seller. The adoption of the same 
system of stalls in our grand new fruit and vegetable 
market, which we may, I trust, look forward to, would be 
a great improvement ; but London is now so vast in extent 
that nothing less than a good series of well-managed 
markets will ever supply its population with a sufficiency 
of fresh vegetable food, which is the most wholesome and 
necessary of all. 

The history of the Halles Centrales illustrates to some 
extent the essentially practical turn changes and improve- 
ments have taken in Paris of recent years. At one time 
the site was occupied by a vast graveyard, where the greater 
portion of the dead of Paris were gathered for centuries. 
At one time it lay outside the walls, but Paris gradually 
surrounded it with its narrow old streets, and eventually 
the place became a horrible nuisance. Then the govern- 
ment caused the vast accumulation of human remains to be 
removed by night in covered carts, escorted by chanting, 
torch -bearing priests, to the subterranean quarries that lie 
under Paris, and which, now filled with the piled bones of 
millions of men, are known as the Catacombs. 

Some of the pavilions are not yet complete, but they will 
be on the same plan as those already in existence. The most 
noticeable and admirable features of this great covered market 
are the neat stalls for retail dealers before alluded to, light- 
ness of design and good ventilation, and the roomy, airy 
character of the whole. It is constructed so as to be a 
protection against extremes of weather at all seasons ; it is 
cool and shady in summer, the system of cellars under- 
neath roomy and good, and with many useful arrangements 
for storing away the provisions, both live and dead. The 
roof is of zinc, the flooring partly asphalte, partly flags, and, 
like every new building, or avenuC; or wide street in Paris, 
trees adorn the margin of the wide footways around it, 
shading the scene of almost ceaseless animation beneath. 



FLOWER, FRUIT, AND VEGETABLE MARKETS. 543 



There are many other markets in Paris, but all of them are 
smaller than the Halles, which offer most interest to the 
English visitor. A good deal of the choicer produce is, 
however, taken to the Marche St. Honore, after having been 
sold wholesale in the central market. When finished, the 
Halles will cover about five acres. 

There are thousands of Parisians whose garden is the 
window-sill, or a basket mossed over in the sitting-room, or 



Fig. 300. 




The Flower Market at the Madeleine. 



a glazed case, and to most of them the flower-market is a 
nursery ; and an excellent nursery too, for they can get 
numerous pretty plants in them in the best of health for a 
trifling sum. Considering that a few miles of sea have for 
ages separated many marked customs of both peoples, for 
good and bad, and that 14,000 miles of sea have not pre- 
vented English habits, that have never crossed the Channel, 
from spreading to the Antipodes, it is vain to hope for the 
adoption of such a feature as the flower-markets of Paris in 



544 FLOWER, FRUIT, AND VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



our great towns ; yet few could be more agreeable or useful. 
They are in themselves, as Mrs. Browning remarked, the 
" sweetest spots in Paris,^^ and certainly do good by enabling 
the poorer classes to freely enjoy things that are generally 
admitted to have an ameliorating influence. In Paris the 
larger flower-markets are not in permanent buildings, but 
occupy spaces which may be compared to that in Trafalgar- 
square — the plants being placed in groups on the gravel or 
flags, and the flowers and choicer plants under temporary 
tents. The market once over, the space is cleared. In the 
great central market and in the minor markets there are 
also rows of stalls for flowers; shops vending them are 
numerous, and occasionally a solitary stand with abundance 
of them is seen here and there in the streets. The regular 
flower-markets are held at the Place de la Madeleine, the 
Chateau d^Eau, the Quai aux Pleurs, and in the Place St, 
Sulpice — twice weekly in each place. 

They usually show in abundance all popular flowers — from 
spring flowers to Chrysanthemums ; but Palms and fine-leaved 
plants generally — Cactuses, Mesembryanthemums, &c., in va- 
riety, are also to be seen; as well as young vegetable plants, pot- 
herbs. Shrubs, Roses, Oleanders, and Pomegranates. Oranges 
are also sold in quantity. Flowers ready cut for bouquets and 
room decoration are particularly well done and very abundant. 
The distinctive feature of the whole of these markets of cut 
flowers consists of flower-buds — these are sold in quantities, 
and arranged in a way that is unknown to us. Bunches of 
Boses may be seen all of one kind and colour, and all young 
unopened buds. Of some of the very dwarf Roses they pick 
buds little bigger than a half-developed Fuchsia flower. All 
are very pretty, from little pink and white ones to the large 
golden cones of such Roses as Marechal Niel. Sometimes 
the white Roses are surrounded by a band of Forget-me-not 
flowers ; oftener the Myosotis is sold in bunches alone, and 
so is nearly every other pretty garden flower; sometimes 
they are mingled with grasses and the spray of such small 
profuse flowers as Gypsophila, and common, but none the 
less pretty flowers, such as Forget-me-not, Lily of the 
Valley, and Woodruff". 



i 



i 



LIST OF PLACES OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE. 545 



List of places in which the more instructive features of 
practical horticulture may be seen. 

It is so mucli better to illustrate a subject by eye-proof 
than by any other,, that I venture to give a list of gardens 
in which visitors to Paris may see for themselves some of 
the things spoken of in this book. We may breakfast in 
London in the morning and dine without inconvenience 
in Paris the same evenings so that those wishing to examine 
for themselves any of the subjects discussed will have little 
difficulty in doing so. 

Fruit Culture. — M.Nallet^Brunoy^Seine-et-Marne: This 
station is passed on the way to Fontainebleau and Lyon^ and 
is also that at which you alight to go to the great Rose- 
show occasionally held at Brie Comte Robert^ so that 
numbers of English travellers have an opportunity of visiting 
it. Nobody taking an interest in fruit-culture should pass 
the station without seeing it. It is within an hour or so of 
Paris^ should a special visit be paid. The garden is within 
a few minutes of the station^ and M. Nallet is a most 
obligiDg aod amiable amateur. — The Imperial kitchen and 
fruit garden, or Potagerie, at Versailles (for Pear culture on 
trellises in open quarters, winter Pear culture against walls^ 
and horizontal cordons). — M. Chardon-Chatillon, Fontenay 
aux Roses, a little to the south of Paris. — Rothschild, Fer- 
rieres, Seine- et-Marne : This noble place has a fruit garden 
which though not very extensive, is exceedingly well managed. 
The fruit room is the best structure of the kind yet made, 
and usually stored with a fine stock. The Grape-room, in 
which the Grapes are preserved in bottles on the system 
pre^dously described, is also worth seeing. 

M. Rose-Charmeux, Thomery, near Fontainebleau : This 
garden is entirely devoted to Grape culture against walls and 
also in houses. The village is celebrated for furnishing Paris 
with a great quantity of its favourite Chasselas de Fontaine- 
bleau; indeed popularly it is supposed to supply all; but this is 
not the case, the next-mentioned place supplying a good deal, 
though hardly known. Nearly all the ground around the village 
is netted over with walls devoted to Grape culture. In fact it 

N N 



546 LIST OF PLACES IN WHICH THE MORE INSTRUCTIVE 



is as mucli devoted to the production of Grapes as Mon- 
treuil is to Peaches. — MM. Crapote et Cirjean^ Conflans, 
St. Honorine : A very interesting establishment for vine- 
cultnre in the open air. — M. Lepere^ Montreuil : This is 
the well known Peach-grower^ and it need scarcely be 
remarked his garden is worth seeing at all seasons. — M. 
Chevallier, Boulevard de THotel de Ville, at Montreuil : 
This place is by no means so well known as M. Lepere^s, 
but very well worth seeing. It is not nearly so large 
or so long established as the garden of M. Lepere^ but 
it would be difficult to find more perfectly beautiful wall 
trees than are here to be seen. The ground all round this 
village is devoted to Peach culture. — M. Bac-Ivry, near 
Vitry : This is the garden of an amateur containing very 
nice examples of the horizontal cordons, pyramids, and trel- 
lised trees. It is but a few miles from Paris, the omnibus pass- 
ing the door. — Of amateurs successfully cultivating fruit trees 
in small gardens in Paris, M. Laclaverie, Avenue du Roule, 
and M. Mattifat of Neuilly, may be mentioned. 

Of nurseries near Paris where fruit culture is practised to 
any extent, the following are the most worthy of being seen — 
J amin et Durand, Bourg-la-Reine. The partnership existing 
between MM. Jamin et Durand will be dissolved during the 
present year, and in future two separate nurseries may be 
looked for at Bourg-la-Beine. Attached to each will be found 
an interesting "scliooF^ of fruit culture — i.e., a garden devoted 
to fully grown specimens of fruit trees both against walls, 
trellises, and in the open. — M. Croux, nurseryman, Vallee 
Daulnay, Sceaux : He has also a very interesting fruit 
garden. — M. Cochet Suisnes, Brie Comte Robert, Seine-et- 
Marne : Horizontal cordons and Pears in the columnar 
form, and young trained trees are here in very good condi- 
tion. — M. Deseine Bougival, Seine-et-Oise : Here there are 
large nurseries and also a school of fruit culture. There are 
in France many other large nurseries very interesting to the 
fruit-grower, such as Baltefs at Troy, Leroy's at Angers, 
Oudin^s at Lisieux, Leconte^s at Dijon, but only those 
within easy reach of Paris are named. 

The Pig is grown best in the neighbourhood of Argenteuil, 



FEATURES OE HOUTICULTURE :MAT BE SEEN. 54? 



by various cultivators. Its culture is well worth seeing. The 
Apricot is very extensively cultivated in the neighbourhood of 
Frieul, Vaux and Meulan, Seine-et-Oise. It is^ however, 
needless to mention instances of culture away from walls 
and which do not afford us any practical lessons. Of 
governmental schools for fruit culture that nearest to Paris is 
in the Bois de Vincennes. It is quite new_, and is described 
elsewhere. 

I have been informed that the agricultural school ot 
Grignon has a very good fruit garden, but I have not 
visited it. The nearest example to Paris of the planting of 
railway embankments with fruit trees is on the line from 
Gretz to Colommiers, Chemin de Fer de TEst. 

Vegetable Culture. — The finest examples of the culture 
of vegetables are found in the market gardens round Paris. 
The best are near Asnieres, and also near Grenelle and 
Vaugirard. A ready way to get a general idea of their 
state, is to take a seat in the upper story of one of the trains 
of the railway that runs round Paris. 

M. Courtois-Gerard, the well-known seedsman and writer 
on market gardening, has been kind enough to furnish me 
with the following list of representative market gardens : — 



M. Pinson, 88, Eue de Charonne, Paris. 
M. Julienne-Hiclielle, 105, Eue de 

Beuilly, Paris. 
M. Ledru, 16, Rue ^Mongallet, Paris. 
M. Dagorno, 30, Rue de Picpus, Paris. 
M. Dulac, 18, Sentier St. Antoine, 

Paris. 

M. Hebrard, 70, Rue du Pot au Lait, 
Paris. 

M. Marie, 4, Eue des Plantes, Paris. 
M. Conard-Louis, 5, Rue Volontaire, 
Paris. 

M. J. Lecomte Tmpasse Maconnais, 
Boulevard de Poissonniers, Paris. 

M. Gros, Rue de Paris, Charonnes. 

M. Langlois, Rue Croix Ni vert, Vaugi- 
rard. 

M. Dumier, 16, Rue de Beuilly, Cha- 
renton. 

M. Stiswille aind, 12, Rue de Beuilly, 

Charenton. 
M. Xoblet, 18, Rue Bouery, La Clia- 

pelle. 



M. Ponce, 53, Route de la Eevolte, 
Clichy. 

M. Dupont, 50, Rue de Hartre, 
Clicliy. 

M. Crosnier, 30, Route de Chatillon, 

Montrouge. 
M. Leger Claude, 237, Avenue de 

Paris, St. Denis. 
M. Clievalier, 10, Route de St. Denis, 

St. Denis. 
M. Chevet pere, 1, Rue Valentine, 

Bobigny. 

M. Chevalier, Rue Montpensier, Vin- 
cennes. 

M. Pi vert. Rue des Vignerons, Vin- 
cennes. 

M. OoUeaume, 23, Rue des Marais de 
Villers, Montreuil St. Cors. 

M. Duloc, 2, Rue de Montempoivre, 
St. Mande. 

M. Houdart, 2, Rue de la Grange, St. 
Mande. 



Asparagus is grown to the greatest perfection at Argenteuil, 

N N 2 



548 THE CLIMATES OF PARTS AND LONDON COMPARED, 



and in the valley of Montmorency. Among the best cul- 
tivators in the former town are M. THeranlt^ of the Rue de 
Calais^ and M. Lerot-Salboeuf^ Rue de Sannois. Asparagus 
is forced both at Argenteuil and in the market gardens 
within the fortifications of Paris. M. Caucannier^ Place 
de TEglise at Clichy-la-GaronnC;, has a curious and inte- 
resting establishment for forcing Asparagus on a large 
scale in houses and by means of hot-water pipes. 

The Climates of Paris and London Compared. — Most 
people who have visited Paris are under the impression 
that for clearness, salubrity, dryness, and heat, the climate 
of the fairest of European cities is incomparably superior to 
that of London. The idea has no doubt arisen from the 
fact that most visitors to the French capital choose either 
summer or autumn for their trip. At these periods even 
our own smoky metropolis is at its best ; but the hard- 
working citizen, who for the first time finds himself walking 
down the boulevards or the Rue Royale upon a lovely June 
or August afternoon, sees the Paris climate in its fullest 
perfection. The air is free from smoke, the buildings and 
houses are either dazzlingly white or of a delicate cream 
colour, and even the mud itself is of a clearer and brighter 
hue than the greasy, metallic-looking paste with which the 
Londoner is so familiar. Let him, however, choose No- 
vember or December for his excursion, and he will soon 
discover that Paris can be as cold and cloudy, and even as 
foggy, as our own city. A few figures from various unim- 
peachable sources, both French and English, will, it is 
hoped, do much to dispel the prevailing notion of the great 
superiority of the climate of Paris over that of London. 

The climate of Paris may be taken as being typical of 
that of the whole of the north-west of France, its change- 
ableness, however, being somewhat less than that of the 
districts bordering on the sea. In general characteristics 
it may be said to stand midway between the climate of the 
north-east portions of the Continent and that of the shores 
of the Channel. It is less cold in winter than the former, 
being warmed by the breezes from the Atlantic Ocean, but 
colder than the south and west. In summer it is more 



THE CLIMATES OF PARIS AND LONDON COMPARED. 549 



temperate than tlie soutli and east^ but hotter than the ex- 
treme west. The mean temperature of Paris, taken from 
a series of official and private observations running over 
thirty-six years, may be taken at 51-55° F. The lowest 
temperature observed during fifty-two years was 2° below 
zero F. ; the highest during the same time was within a 
fraction of 99° F. 

These figures are worthy of a little consideration. For a 
similar period the averages of the observations taken in 
London by the officers of the Eoyal Society are as follows : 
Mean temperature 50*50° F. ; highest temperature, 97° F. ; 
the lowest, 5° below zero F. The mean temperature of 
Paris is therefore a fraction over 1° F. higher than our 
own, while the highest temperature only exceeds ours by 
something less than 2° F. 

It will be also instructive to compare the mean tempera- 
ture of the four seasons in both places with each other. 

Paris. London. 
Fahr. Fahr. 

Mean Temperature, Spring 50-0 ... 49-0 

„ Summer 648 . . . 62-5 

„ Autumn 52-0 ... 51-0 

Winter 39-5 . . . 39-0 

It must, however, be borne in mind that in the suburbs 
of London the mean temperature is 2° F. below that of 
the city, and that on winter nights, when Jack Frost is 
striving his hardest to destroy all the vegetation within his 
reach, there is often as much as 4° F. difierence between 
the thermometers of the city and the suburbs. The cause 
of this variation is twofold. In the summer a large quan- 
tity of heat is radiated by the masses of brickwork every- 
where to be found about the city, to say nothing of the 
amount absorbed and given off again during the night ; 
while in the winter the city is obviously warmer during 
both day and night, on account of the extra heat caused by 
the numerous fires, both industrial and domestic, that are 
constantly burning within its walls. Paris, as a city, being 
under precisely similar conditions, we may feel safe in as- 
suming that the same difi'erence exists between the mean 
temperature of the Observatory and Montreail as there 



550 THE CLIMATES OF PARIS AND LONDON COMPAKED. 



does between that of Somerset House and Tottenham for 
instance. Luke Howard, one of our first and most acute 
British meteorologists, on the strength of many thousands 
of observations made at Plaistow, Stratford, and Tottenham, 
gives the difference between the mean temperature of 
London and the country at 2° F. exactly, and a careful 
examination of his data has proved his figures to be correct 
within a fraction. This difference sinks to less than half 
a degree in spring ; it increases in summer and autumn, 
and often rises on winter nights to as much as F. It 
is a singular fact that towards the end of spring, when the 
fires are being discontinued, and the sun has not yet reached 
his full power, it sometimes happens that the day tempera- 
ture is somewhat greater in the country. This is doubtless 
to be attributed to the veil of smoke and cloud that is 
hanging over the metropolis. The efi'ects of the higher 
mean winter temperature in the city are singularly apparent 
in the earlier budding and blooming of the trees, which 
frequently begin their spring life several days before their 
suburban cousins — a fact which may be easily verified by a 
walk from Haverstock-hill to Tottenham-court-road, just as 
the Elms are beginning to bud, or when the Pear trees are 
putting on their early spring livery. 

The amount of annual rainfall in London only slightly 
exceeds that of Paris, although any unprejudiced person 
would feel inclined to give it as his opinion that the num- 
ber of rainy days in London greatly exceeded those in 
Paris. The French authorities that have been con- 
sulted differ somewhat in their calculations, owiug possibly 
to having collected the rain with dissimilar instruments. 
The English figures are from Luke Howard, the French 
from Gasparin and Bouvard. 



Gasparin. 
Inches. 



Bouvard. 
Inches. 



Howard. 
Inches. 



Eainfall in Spring 



5- 6 

6- 8 
5-3 
4-6 



4-0 
60 
6-4 
4-8 



50 

6- 5 

7- 5 
6-0 



Suminer 
Autumn 
Winter 



22-3 



21-2 



25-0 



551 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

HORTICULTURAL MACHINES^ IMPLEMENTS^ APPLIANCES^ ETC. 

Transplanting Large Trees. — Not the least remarkable 
feature of tlie public gardening of Paris is the excellent 
system of removing trees there practised. Por the following 
article on this subject I am indebted to my friend M. 
Edouard Andre, the talented designer of Sefton Park at 
Liverpool : — 

" The city of Paris, prior to having formed the large 
parks and public gardens which she now possesses, had no 
regular system of transplanting large trees, with the excep- 
tion of the old-fashioned carts which had been used at Ver- 
sailles and the other royal parks, and at M. de Rothschild's 
chateaux at Boulogne and Ferrieres, principally for the pur- 
pose of removing large Orange trees in tubs, and occasionally 
for transplanting old and valuable trees. 

" These carts were designed and constructed in the time of 
Louis XIV., and it may be well imagined that they were 
extremely cumbersome and inconvenient. In recent days, 
however, when the chief gardeners and the city architects 
were often called upon to extemporize shady avenues in a few 
days, it became absolutely necessary for them to put their 
heads together to invent some new machine which would 
work more easily and with less damage to the lives of the 
trees. The first apparatus built consisted of a frame bearing 
two moveable wooden rollers, one on the fore-carriage and 
the other at the back, each provided with holes in which to 
place the ends of the levers when hoisting up the tree. A 
round case made of sheet iron was hung in the centre sus- 
pended from the rollers by chains, which, when the tree was 
raised up by the levers, held the earth-ball and roots. 

" We do not intend reviewing all the improved means 



' 552 HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 

successively employed prior to the actual model now 
in use (Fig. 301) being adopted ; but confining our- 
selves to the apparatus figured here, we have only to state 




the way in which the removal of large trees is managed in 
Paris. 

" We takC; for example^ a specimen tree_, thirty years old^ 



TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 



553 



thirty feet in height^ the trunk of which has a circumference 
of three feet at a height of three feet from the ground, 
its total weight with the earth-ball being nearly two tons. 
The operation is commenced by staking out, round the 
stem^ the circumference of the earth-ball, which will be on 
an averasre about four 



feet in 
most 



diameter for 



species, 



and 









1 d 


1 


lilio 




o 




p 








larger according to the 
size of the trees to be 
removed. A second 
concentric circle is 
then made about two 
feet outside the first, 
the space between 
which will be the 
place for the trench 
to be dug for pre- 
paring the tree, g 
The soil is then re- ^ 
moved from this 
trench to the depth of 
three feet, and the 
small and delicate 
roots are drawn out of 
the earth, left hang- 
ing, and carefully pre- 
served. The earth- 
ball is then under- 
mined to prevent the 
roots from adhering to 
the subsoil ; two thick 
planks, a foot wide, 
and a little longer 
than the ball, are placed underneath parallel with the 
width of the cart, so that they sustain the weight of the 
earth when the tree is lifted. Privet stems are now placed 
vertically, close together, all round the earth-ball, tied at 
the top and bottom with ropes, so as to prevent the earth 



554 



TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 



from crumbling away, and also to protect the small roots 
from the inclemencies of the weather. 

The removal of the tree is then commenced in the follow- 
ing manner : — Two stout thick planks, strong enough to sup- 
port the cart with the tree slung in it, and a little longer than 

the entire excava- 
tion, and having 
iron plates about 
two inches higher 
than the surface 
bolted on each side 
so as to prevent 
the wheels from 
slipping off, are 
placed parallel to 
each other across 
the excavation with 
the exact width 
existing between 
the wheels. The 
moveable bars at 
the back of the 
cart are then re- 
moved, and the 
cart is backed into 
the ways until the 
trunk of the tree is 
exactly in the cen- 
tre of the frame. 
The moveable bars 
are then put in 
their place again so 
as to strengthen 
the back of the wheels, which do not run on an axletree, but 
are fitted in wrought-iron frames hanging from the upper 
part of the cart, as shown in the woodcut. The chains at- 
tached to the rollers on each side of the cart are now lowered 
and passed under the planks before described, which are 
placed under the earth-ball. When all is fast, four workmen 




Tree-lifting Machine : back view. 



TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 



555 



begin simultaneously to turn tlie handles attaclied to the 
cast-iron cog-wheels, by which great power is obtained on 
the rollers. The tree is raised slowly and steadily until it 
just swings clear of the ground, and then nothing is left to 
be done but to steady the tree before it is hoisted up to its 
proper height. For 
this purpose there 
is at each corner 
of the cart a strong 
wrought-iron 
hook, to which is 
attached a block, 
through which 
runs a strong rope 
fixed at the other 
end to a leather 
collar. These four 
ropes are then 
raised up together 
and the collar 
firmly fastened on 
the stem of the 
tree about seven 
or eight feet from 
the top of the 
earth-ball. The 
tree can be now 
easily removed 
without fear of its 
falling over. 

" The horses are 
then attached to 
the cart, which is 

drawn slowly ofiP the ways, and the tree can be removed with 
safety to its future resting-place. If the tree be vigorous and 
healthy, a hole a little wider than the one from which it 
has been removed should be dug beforehand, the earth being- 
placed carefully on one side if it should be of a kind to 
suit the tree about to be planted, and if not, it should be re- 




Tree-lifting Machine : front view. 



556 



TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 



placed by suitable soil. The average dimensions for the 
hole^ for an eartb-ball of four feet in diameter^ should be 
about seven feet^ so that eighteen inches are preserved all 
round the tree to be filled up with good vegetable soil. The 
depth should be equal to the height of the earth-ball^ or a 
little more if the tree be of a species with tap roots. The 
bottom of the excavation should be filled in with a little 
good soil,, which will allow the top of the earth-ball to be 
a little higher than the surrounding ground^ in accordance 
with an instinctive notion, which almost invariably induces 
us to place trees used as isolated specimens in lawns on 
small hillocks. 

When this is done the planks or ways are placed in posi- 
tion . as before described^ and the cart is very carefully 
drawn on them until the earth-ball is exactly in the centre 
of the hole. The tree is then slowly lowered^ and when it 
touches the ground the guy-ropes from the corners of the 
cart are pulled tight, so as to have the tree perfectly upright 
and steady ; the chains are unfastened and hoisted up round 
rollers ; ' the two planks beneath the earth-ball are under- 
mined and removed, and the privet shoots taken off. They 
then proceed to fill up the hole^ particular attention being 
paid to the small roots, which are each separately covered 
in. When this is finished and the tree is considered 
sufficiently steady, the ropes are removed ; the bars are 
taken out of the back of the cart which is drawn away, and 
the bars having been refixed all is ready for another 
removal. 

" An abundant watering, if the removal has been made in 
the growing season, will be the end of the operation. The 
tree must be now protected against the wind, being as yet 
merely dependent upon its own gravity, as the roots take 
time to get hold of the ground. This result is obtained by 
placing at about half-way up the stem of the tree a padding 
of straw, round which three or four long pieces of wire-rope 
are attached ; these are carried out on all sides of the tree 
and firmly fastened to strong stakes driven in the ground. 
We may then bid defiance to the strongest winds that 
blow. 



TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 



557 



If drouglit is to be feared^ the stem and main branches 
of the tree can be surrounded with plaited straw watered 
from time to time^ or by a coating of clay mixed with cow- 
dung and covered with rough canvas^ which is much about 
the same colour as the bark. Sometimes in the Boulevards 
of Paris they 

water trees sur- Fig. 305. 

rounded in this 
manner by pour- 
ing water through 
a funnel from the 
top^ between the 
clay and the 
trunk of the tree. 
These auxiliary 
means for keep- 
ing the tree alive 
may be supple- 
mented by many 
others^ such as 
covering it en- 
tirely on the 
south side with 
canvas^ to pre- 
serve it from the 
sun and drought if 
it is of ararekindj 
by watering the 
ground well if it is 
dry^ or by drain- 
ing the hole with 

rubbish or drain- Trunk of large Tree recently planted enveloped in Moss 
. „ - „ , and Canvas, to preserve the Stem irom the action of 
pipes 11 the soil be the Sun. 

too damp^ &c. 

The ordinary season for transplanting large deci- 
duous trees is from October to Aprils and from March to 
April or August for evergreens. But with sufficient 
care it is quite possible to transplant trees all the year 
roundj provided the weather be suitable,, the roots un- 




558 



TRANSPLANTI^JG LAUGE TREES. 



injured, the soil good, and that they be kept well sheltered, 
and watered. 

" In choosing the tree to be transplanted, its age and 
species must be duly considered. For instance, it is useless 
to remove a tree that is sixty or eighty years of age, as it 
will never produce as fine foliage as it did before its re- 
moval, nor will it make any remarkable progress in size. 
It is better only to remove those not more than fifteen years 
old and under without any earth-ball at all, taking especial 
care to preserve all the roots intact. The best age for trans- 
planting larger trees is from twenty to thirty years. The 
number of species ordinarily removed is limited, as only the 
more common kinds of trees are subjected to the process, 
no one caring to run the risk of losing a rare and valuable 
tree. In Paris, experiments made on various species have 
given the following results : — 

" Success nearly always certain : Elms, Planes, white 
and red, Horse-chestnuts, Limes, Ailantus, Catalpa, 
Paulownia, Celtis, Planera, Sophora, and Willows. 

Success uncertain but sometimes satisfactory : Poplars, 
Sycamores, Maples, Alders, Mulberries, Beech, Ash, Mag- 
nolias, American Walnuts, Cercis, Diospyros, and several 
other exotic trees not yet sufficiently experimented 
upon. 

" Success very rare : Kobinias, Cratsegus, Hawthorns, 
and nearly all the Rosacese, Birch, Laburnum, and many 
Leguminosse, Oaks (European and American), Pavias, Elms, 
and Gleditschias."" 

With respect to the value of this machine as compared 
with any in use in England, there can be no doubt that the 
Paris machine is the best. Trees are there removed daily 
without the least difiiculty or fuss, that, if removed in this 
country, would probably be honoured with a notice in the 
local papers. The best of our English machines must be 
taken to pieces for the removal of every tree : the beams 
have to be taken oflP in order to bring the wheels in position, 
then they have to be replaced in position, as well as the 
lifting apparatus. Besides, the machines are unwieldy and 
awkward. The advantage of the French machine is, that 



TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 



559 



Fig. 306. 



by removing tbe iron rod wbicli connects the bind wheels 
and the hind cross-beam, the machine is put to the tree 
without trouble or awkwardness. The lifting power is by 
means of racks, pinions, and levers. 

Besides the above-described excellent method for the 
removal of 
large trees, 
there is a very 
good method 
employed for 
the transplanta- 
tion of small 
trees, specimen 
conifers, ever- 
greens, and like 
subjects. Round 
each tree a cir- 
cular trench is 
opened large 
enough for a 
man to move 
about in it at 
his ease. The 
depth should be 
equal to that of 
the deepest large 
roots, and a ball 
of earth large 
enough to in- 
sure the safe 
removal of the 
tree should be 
left. AU the 
smaller ro ots 
found in the 
trench should be 

carefully preserved. The ball is shaped into the form of a 
truncated cone, with its smallest portion below. It is next 
surrounded with light deal boards, separated from each 




Small Machine for Lifting Specimen Shrul 
and Conifers. 



560 



TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 



other by the distance of three-quarters of an inch or so, 
like the staves of a barrel. They are next secured tem- 
porarily by a suitable rope. A man then descends into the 
hole and fixes the rope by means of the screw apparatus 
shown in Fig. 307_, so as to press the planks firmly against 
the soil of the ball. The press is then removed and the 
same thing done higher up, within say four inches of the 
top, an ordinary cask hoop being first nailed round the 
planks before the screw is unfixed. The ball being firmly 
fixed in its proper position, it is hove over so as to get 
to its underneath part. The bottom of a cask having 
its boards fastened together with a circular piece of sheet 
iron rather larger than itself is passed under, the iron being 
pierced with two or three holes and turned up so that it 



Fig. 307. 







'llllllllHllllllllllTl = 


— 




.Iwininniiiiiiiiiii! = 



IjT 



Screw used in preparing specimens for removal, as sliown in the 
preceding Figure. 

may be nailed against the planks. In some cases the stem 
of the tree should be fixed by iron wire to the sides of the 
improvised cask. 

When it reaches its destination it is gently inclined to 
one side and the bottom boards removed. The hoops are 
next unfastened, the boards removed, and the roots carefully 
arranged in their natural position, some good earth being 
spread over them. The amount of success capable of being 
attained by this method may be seen throughout the squares 
of Paris, hardly a single tree having been killed during the 
plantation of the myriads now growing so luxuriantly in 
that city. Some at Vincennes have died, it is true, but 
after having been transplanted in the rough and ready way 
usually resorted to. 



CARRIAGE FOR MOVING ORANGE TREES. 



561 



The apparatus costs a mere trifle^ as will be seen from 
the following estimate. A press made of oak and beech^ 
with the rope included^ only costs eighteen francs ; if it 
were made of iron it would possibly cost less. For a ball 
six or seven feet in circumference and eighteen to twenty 
inches high, the boards, hoops, cask bottom, sheet of iron, 
and nails would cost less than a couple of francs. If still 
greater economy is desirable, what are known as Yankee flour 
barrels may be used, if they are cut in two and taken to pieces. 
"With these simple appliances two men can prepare five trees a 
day ready for hoisting on to the cart intended to receive them. 

Carriage for transporting Orange Trees. — The fashion 
of growing large Orange trees in tubs is so general in France 
that some efficient means of moving them from place to 
place becomes necessary. Many contrivances have been 
tried, and several are in use, but the best and handiest is 
that employed for the carriage of the large specimens in the 
gardens of the Tuileries. For the following notice of it I 
am indebted to my friend Mr. John Gibson, the able and 
deservedly popular superintendent of Battersea Park, who has 
long taken a deep interest in the public gardening of Paris : — 

" The machine used in the gardens of the Tuileries for 
removing large Orange trees in tubs, of which a longitudinal 
representation is given on the next page, is the most use- 
ful contrivance I have seen in use for this purpose. Its 
simplicity and the facility with which the tubs are lifted for 
transit are its chief recommendations ; no taking to pieces 
or removal of the side beams, prior to load- 
ing, is necessary, beyond the removal of 
the hind axle, which consists of a strong 
wrought-iron bar with a hook at each end, g===a 
the hooks fitting into an eye fixed on the in- 
side of the stock of the hind wheels. They are made fast with a 
pin through each hook; when this bar is removed the machine 
is backed to the tub, one of the hind wheels passing it on 
each side until the tub is midway between the fore and hind 
wheels where the lifting apparatus is fixed. This being done 
the axle bar is fixed and the machine is ready for loading. 

" The stirrups attached to the lower end of the upright 

o o 



562 HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



lifting rods are now lowered to the bottom of the tub by 
means of the rack and pinion machinery until the two iron 
bars, which are previously pushed under the tub, can be 
placed in the four stirrups ; this being done, all is ready for 

lifting the tub 




m 



an 



Carriage for transporting Orange trees. 
1. Fore carriage. 2. Side-beams. 3. Lifting screw. 



4. Stirrups for carrying tub, 

being lowered on to 



upright 
position by the 
rack and pinions^ 
which are worked 
by a man on each 
side. When the 
tub is high enough 
for travelling it is 
secured by means 
of a pin through 
the four upright 
lifting rods in- 
serted at 5, the 
travelling. The 



5. Pins. 

tub being lowered on to the pins for 
whole operation does not occupy the three men required to 
work it more than two or three minutes. The machine is 
drawn by one horse, and it will be seen how easily and 
quickly the magnificent Orange trees alluded to are brought 
from their hibernatory in the spring to their summer 

Fig. 310. 




Truck for moving Plants in tubs and large pots. 

quarters, and as easily taken back in the autumn. The fore 
part of the machine is made to ^ lock'' so that it turns in 
little more than its own length. It is in every respect a 
most complete apparatus for this and for like purposes.''^ 

Truck for Tubs or very large Pots. — This very handy 
little truck. Fig. 310, is what the French use for moving large 
plants in tubs and large pots. It would be difiQcult to find 



GARDEN CHAIRS AND SEATS. 



563 




Tub for Orano-e Trees. 



anvtlimg more useful in its Tvay. Large specimen plants 
are quickly and easily moved by this means. The pot or 
tub is caught by the little iron feet, then thrown on its 
side and tied firmly if a long distance has to be traversed. 

Tubs for Orange Trees, &c. 
— Oranges, Oleanders, &c., are 
so much grown on the Continent 
that good kinds of tubs are of 
high importance. There can be 
little doubt that the square tubs 
now employed in the public gar- 
dens of Paris are the best and 
most durable. I mean those with 
the hollow cast-ii'on frame and 
bottom, and wooden sides. In 
their case renewing the sides from time to time is not a 
matter of much expense. The tub here figured is a well-made 
wooden one, with a wide ornamental margin of metal. The 
efi'ect with good specimens is superior to that of the square 
ones in common use, but it is very expensive. 

Garden Chairs axd Seats. — The kind of chair shown 
in Fig. 312 is seen in quantities in all public places in Paris. 

It has a convex seat made of flexible strips 
of metal springing from the sides and 
joined together in a little central piece. 
These chairs stand any weather, and are 
nevertheless as elastic as a drawing-room 
one. A very neat, elegant, and com- 
fortable conservatory, pleasure-ground, 
or summer-house chair is composed of 
three of these seats united in one, the 
larger framework of the back and sides 
being made of rustic iron about as thick as 
the thumb, the smaller spray being tied to the larger by imi- 
tation osier twigs. This is made by M. Carre, the maker of 
the greater number of chairs in this way. 

There are many modifications of this kind of chair. One 
on much the same principle, but with the elastic bands cross- 
ing from side to side instead of all ending in the centre, is made 

o o 2 




564 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



Fig 



by Tronclion^ of the Avenue cVEylaU;, wlio has a large collection 

of such articles. His modification 
of the elastic chair is certainly 
stronger than that of Can-e, bntfor 
durability and general good quali- 
ties the chairs made in imitation of 
split cane work are the best of all. 

I'ig. 313 shows a combination 
of moYeable seat and shallow 
bower^ with a box at the back for 
planting climbing plants where- 
with to cover the trellis work. The 
best plan would be to train some 
graceful and rapid growing annual 
Seat with box for climbing plants, ^.^^eping plant on this. So shaded 

and decorated^it mightprove very acceptable in some positions. 

The next illustration shows a form of seat seen at the Paris 
Exhibition of 1867. It consists of a not uncommon form of 
garden seat with a tent-like shade supported as shown in 
Fig. 314. This shade can be rolled up in a moment by means 

Fig. 314. 





Seat with Tent-like Shade. 

of the chain at the ends^ and let down with equal facility. 
This seat would seem to be a want out of doors in summer^ 
and also in conservatories and like structures in winter and 
spring ; that is^ where people sit and read in them. There is a 
modification of it in which the back of the seat is reversible. 



GRAFTIXG MASTIC. 



565 



Grafting Mastic. — The tliorough. knowledge of grafting 
possessed by the French has long ago led them to invent 
various kinds of grafting wax or mastiCj which greatly 
facilitate grafting. These_, while distinct improvements for 
propagators and practical gardeners having much grafting 
to do, render grafting on a small scale and in the gardens 
of amateurs a pleasant and interesting operation. The mix- 
ture of clay, dung, &c,, commonly employed for grafting in 
this country is not such as many amateurs care to make, 
and it is scarcely worth while doing it for the sake of a 
graft or two. The best of the French compositions for 
grafting is that called Mastic VHomme Lefort — an awkward 
name for an excellent article now sold in this country by 
Messrs. Hooper & Co., the seedsmen, of Central Row, 
Covent Garden, W.C. One of the most able fruit growers 
and horticulturists in the country has recently given his 
opinion on this article in the Gardener's Chrordcle : — 

It is a substance of about the consistency of common white lead, somewhat 
resembling halt-melted gutta-percha, and having a very pleasant and agreeable 
perfume. It is quite easy of application, being readily spread over the parts 
with the blade of a knife or a flat piece of wood, like butter on bread. Although 
in the box, away from the air, it will keep pliable and moist for many years, it 
very soon hardens on the outside after being exposed thinly on the graft, and, 
as it were, hermetically seals up the point of junction, and thus prevents all 
access of air to the cuts. It is at the same time quite elastic, and easily re- 
moved when required. It was largely tried in various ways in the Eoyal Hor- 
ticultural Gardens, Chiswick, by Mr. Thompson, who reported favourably on 
its merits. I have myself used it in grafting all sorts of hardy fruit trees, and 
approve of it very much indeed. In grafting tall standards it is better than 
clay, which it is difficult to fix at all times. This, on the contrary, can be ap- 
plied with the greatest ease in any position, and a very little of it suffices 
spread thinly round about the junction of the scion with the stock. I wish 
particularly to recommend its use in grafting Vines. For this purpose it is far 
superior to clay, or any other article that I have used — and I have grafted some 
hundreds. The objection to the use of clay or moss is that in general when the 
Vines are growing a moist atmosphere is maintained in the house ; iii fact, to 
induce the scion to break strongly it is regularly syringed. The clay, &c., is 
thus kept continually moist, and roots are emitted into it from the stock, and 
frequently from the scion also. When this takes place, and I have seen it many 
times, there is but little chance of the graft succeeding. With the Mastic, 
on the contrary, no roots are possible, however much the moisture and heat 
applied externally to the graft and stock, and, as a consequence, success in 
Vine grafting becomes almost a certainty. I have also found the Mastic useful 
in placing over wounds or bruises on plants generally, thereby enabling them 
to heal quickly. For this purpose, for Vine grafting, and for all the more 
delicate operations of grafting, I strongly recommend it : further, it is very 
handy, always ready for use, and so easily applied. With a sharp knife, a bit 
of matting, and a little sixpenny box of ^Mastic I'Homme Lefort (at which 
price sufficient for 100 grafts can be purchased) any gentleman or even lady 
can go grafting trees, at any moment, with the greatest facility, and finish the 



566 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



operation without soiling the fingers. B. — It has a distinct advantage over 
other kinds of grafting mastic, inasmuch as it may be used cold, whereas other 
kinds have to be heated before being used. 

Improved Fruit Shelves. — In the Pear-room at Baron 
Rothscliilcrs at Ferrieres there is a new and excellent plan 



Fig. 315. Fig. 316. 




Portion of Pear stand at Ferrieres, End view of Pear stand. 



Fig. 317. 



for arranging the fruit — the successive shelves of splendid Pears 
being so formed that every individual one can be examined 
without touching any. I need scarcely 
say that in the case of a fruit requiring 
so much nicety of judgment and at- 
tention as the Pear does, in the gar- 
dener who makes the most of his 
collection, and has each kind, or even 
each perfect fruit_, eaten at the right 
time, this is an improvement. The 
Pear-room in the Imperial garden at 
Versailles usually presents a fine sight. 
There the old flat form of bench is in 
use, and all the shelves are closed in 
by wooden doors, so as to exclude the 
light from the fruit. 
Drying Fruit Rooms. — Chloride of calcium is sometimes 




Position of each line of 
Pears in the Fruit room 
at Ferrieres. 



THE PANIER. 



567 




used by tlie Frencli for drying the air of their fruit rooms. 
Mr. Thompson recommends in his book chloride of lime for 
drying the atmosphere in a fruit room_, but he no doubt 
means chloride of calcium^ which is a much more powerful 
absorbent of moisture. The fumes of chlorine given off by 
the former substance, which is simply bleaching powder, 
would be injurious to the 
colour and flavour of the 
fruit. Chloride of calcium 
is a cheap salt, costing 
only a few pence per 
pound. It may be ob- 
tained at any large opera- 
tive chemist^s or drysal- 
ter^s, and should be pre- 
served in well-corked jars. 
For use, a pound or so 
may be spread on plates 
about the room, and should 
be renewed as soon as it 
shows a tendency to run 
into a liquid. A few 

pounds of this material will be suflacient for a large fruit 
room, for the whole fruit-preserving 
season. Its damp -absorbing power may 
be renewed by heating the wet salt to 
redness on a fire-shovel or old frying-pan ; 
but it is so cheap, and so readily obtain- 
able, that the process of renewal is 
hardly worth going through. This sub- 
stance gives off no fumes of any kind, 
and cannot be in any way injurious to 
the Grapes, like the salt recommended by 
Mr. Thompson. 

The Panier. — This is the article al- 
luded to in the description of the garden 
in the Bois de Boulogne. It is much 
The Panier. "^^ed for carrying vegetables, and also 
frequently for conveying manure amongst 
close rows of vines, and has many similar uses. At first it 



Arrangement for the use of chloride of cal- 
cium in the Fruit room. A, Tray or box 
about twenty inches square, and lined 
with lead ; B, Support ; C, Slope on one 
side ; D, Outlet; E, Jar to receive liquid. 



Fig. 319. 




568 HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 

appeared a ridiculously antiquated thing to me^ but after- 
wards I often saw it in efficient use. Where materials have to 
be carried through houses, and in positions where barrows of 
any kind could not be employed, it might be useful^ and 
there is no way by which one man can carry so many 
vegetables as by using it. 

Plough-hoe. — This is nsed for cleaning the numerous 
long straight avenues in the imperial demesnes. A few 
men^ each guiding one of these^ clean the weeds from an 

avenue almost as 
quickly as they 
can walk along it, 
but the texture 
of many walks 
would not permit 
of its use at all. 
At St. Cloud and 
other places where 
it is used^ the 
surface is quite 
sandy, and wher- 
ever this is the 
case it may be used with advantage,, particularly in 
places where many wood-walks and drives have to be kept 
in order. They could not be used on such firm walks as 
we have about London. 

The Binette. — This is a handy implement that I think 
would prove more useful for stirring the 
earth between crops than anything we em- 
ploy. It serves as a draw hoe^ and the 
forked portion is very efficient in loosening 
hard ground. There are various slight modi- 
fications of the one here figured. The handle 
is usually about as long as that of the common The Binette. 
draw hoe. 

Frames for Forcing. — The French market gardeners use 
an immense quantity of frames, and it is by their aid they 
procure most of the tender and excellent forced vegetables 
sent to the markets in early spring. These frames are made 



Fig. 320. 




The Plougli-hoe. 




MATS rOR COVERING PITS A^'D FRAMES. 569 



of very rough wood ; are narrow — not exceeding four feet 
in width ; and arranged in close lines completely immersed in 
the heating material. They are usually about twenty inches 
high at the back and fourteen in front. Undoubtedly the 
principle is better and cheaper than our own. We employ 
large and well-made frames in private gardens^ and for the 
most part place them so that all but the base is exposed to 
the influence of the weather, and the plants therein are 
more liable to changes of temperature and cold. By having 
the frames narrow^ all the sidework rough and cheap^ and 
the frames placed in close lines, we get the greatest amount 
of heat at the smallest cost. By having nothing but the 
surface of the glass 

exposed, little heat is Fig. 322. 

lost, and when the 
frames are covered by 
the neat, warm, and 
flexible straw mats, 

they are as snug as Narrow frames used for forcing by the market 
could be desired. gardeners of Paris. 

"V^Tien it is simply 

desired to preserve bedding plants through the winter, 
the spaces between the rough-sided frames are merely 
filled up with leaves and slightly heating materials. About 
two feet of space is left between each frame, or just 
enough for the convenience of the workmen. Generally 
they are put together by the workmen of the market 
gardens : two stout posts being driven firmly in at one 
end, and an end-board nailed to them. Then at every four 
feet or so minor posts are driven down, and the rough front 
and back boards nailed to them. Numbers are also made 
on a plan by which they can be readily taken to pieces and 
stored in a small space while not in use. By this means 
the ground covered by forcing frames in winter is cleared 
for ordinary open-air crops in summer. 

Mats for Covering Pits and Frames. — In our cold 
and variable climate, the winter covering for many minor 
glass structures is of the greatest importance. It is a thing 
at present managed in a very expensive and by no means 




570 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



Fig. 323. 



satisfactory way. The Frencli mode of doing it is mucli 
cheaper^ neater, and more eflPective ; and in passing through 
their market gardens and forcing- grounds in winter, it is 
one of the first things that seems to the English horti- 
culturist as worthy of imitation. The covering used con- 
sists of straw mats about an inch thick, the sides as neat 
as if cut in a machine, the mat knit together by twine, 
and its texture such that it may be rolled up closely. 
One of these mats, which is much better as a protection 
than a bass-mat, costs about one-third the present price 
of that, while in point of appearance and amount of pro- 
tection given the advantage is all in favour of the French 

paiilasson. The figure given 
represents a simple frame for 
making these mats in the nurse- 
ries of M. Jamain, the celebrated 
cultivator of Orange trees, and I 
append his description of it. 
There are several frames for this 
purpose ; and there is also a ma- 
chine for making these mats, 
which are indispensable to the 
French gardener; but the one 
here described is the best and 
simplest for private use. " Get 
two pieces of timber (1) about 
three inches thick, four inches 
wide, and as long as required. 
Pierce these timbers, as shown in Fig. 323, and in- 
troduce A in the holes to maintain the same width 
between the sides, and support the nails or screw, as 
shown in the cut. These nails are to keep the string 
tight (5). The board may be shifted from hole to hole 
so as to make mats of any desired length. The length 
of the string must be about three times as long as the 
straw mat, and rolled round a little reel, shown at E. The 
straw must be placed on the machine so as to have all its 
cut or lower ends close against the sides, the tops meeting 
in the middle, and so thick as not to have the mat 




Frame for making Straw Mats. 



MATS EOR COVERING PITS AND FRAMES. 571 



Fig. 324. 



thicker than three-quarters of an inch when finished. The 
stitches must not be wider than three-quarters of an inch^ 
and be worked as follows (see F of the figure). Take a 
little of the straw with the left hand, and work the reel 
with the right, first over the straw, then over the bended 
string, coming back underneath, and swiftly passing it 
between the two strings, pulling tightly and pressing 
the straw, so as to have a flat stitch, and not thicker than 
three-quarters of an inch at the most. The same operation 
is repeated until the mat is finished. The machine described 
has been at work for the last twenty years in our nursery, 
at Paris, and is still as good as new. An ordinary workman 
may make daily from thirty to forty yards run of these 
straw mats with 
it.^^ 

All new or 
strange things of 
this sort are adopt- 
ed slowly by hor- 
ticulturists ; but 
that they would 
immediately use 
this, if they had 
an opportunity of 
seeing it in work- 
ing order, I have 
no doubt ; and I 
hope yet to see it 

in general use in British gardens. In France these mats are 
found so useful that they are employed for many purposes 
besides that of covering frames, and they even form a very 
efi'ective temporary coping for walls in some cases. I 
doubt very much if anything I can say for them will give a 
full idea of their utility. In all gardens where men are regu- 
larly employed they may be made ^during bad weather in 
winter; and as there is often a difficulty about procuring 
enough of useful indoor work for men at such times, 
the making of these mats will be a gain from that point of 
view alone. In country places, where straw is abundant^ 




Straw mat (paillasson) used for covering frames. 



572 



HORTICUl.TDRAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



tlieir cost would be a mere trifle. Around Paris so great is 
the demand for these mats that^ in addition to being made 
abundantly by hand as described above_, they are also made 
by machinery. There is indeed an establishment for manu- 
facturing them thus belonging to M. Dorleans^ 37_, Rue du 
Landy^ Clichy. The nurseries of the city are supplied by 
him, and many people find the machine mats cheaper than 
those they make by hand. 

The Numerotetjr. — Numbering instead of labelling is 
now adopted in so many gardens and nurseries^ that 
this instrument cannot fail to be useful. The following 
description of it originally appeared in the Gardener's 
Chronicle : — " Horticulture is a science so vast^ and em- 
braces subjects so different, that however good a man^s 
memory may be it is insufficient, and hence it becomes 
necessary to give it mechanical aid. Among the means 
employed are tickets or labels written upon parchment or 
paper_, or small pieces of wood or zinc ; but these are soon 
effaced, and are very liable to get lost or displaced. A very 
good plan frequently adopted consists in the use of small 
bands of lead^ which are rolled round the stems or branches 
of the plants. Upon this lead a number is marked, corre- 
sponding with a catalogue,, in which the name and any par- 
ticular remarks are entered. This method is sure; but to 
carry it out "several things are necessary. First, there is 
wanted a series of numbers from 1 to 10, or rather from 
1 to 9, the zero, combined with other figures^ making the 
numbers 10, 20, 100, &c. Then this series of numbers 
must be fixed upon a block of wood, and the figures have 
to be impressed upon the leads by means of a small hammer. 
So that to mark the leads we want — 1st, a pair of scissors 
to cut the metal ; 2nd, a set of numbers ; 3rd, a block to 
receive them ; and 4th, a hammer to strike and indent the 
figures in the leads. This apparatus therefore becomes 
troublesome, especiallypi when it is necessary to change its 
place, as is the case when it has to be used in diff'erent 
parts of a large garden, or in a field. Besides, it sufiices 
for one of the little figures to be lost to render the whole 
series useless. 



THE NUMEROTETJR. 



573 



Fia. 325. 



A consideration of these inconyeniences induced an in- 
genious cutler, M. Hardiville, of the Rue St. Jacques,, in 
Paris, to invent the Numeroteur, or Numbering Pincers. 
This instrument in its ge- 
neral form resembles a large 
pail' of scissors, in which 
the blades instead of being 
cutting are flat and blunt, 
with the upper extremity 
prolonged. On the inner 
side of the upper of these 
blades is fixed a series of 
ten figures arranged in 
order, from 1 to 9, followed 
by 0. These figures are 
placed at the end of small 
steel shanks screwed into 
the blade, and upon the 
opposite blade, which is flat, 
the figures are marked in 
hollows, so that, without 
grouping, one is able to 
eff'ect with certainty any 
necessary numerical com- 
binations. A pressure of 
the blades suffices to indent 
the figure in the piece of 
lead that has been placed 
between them, and the lead 
is then withdrawn and 
placed in the same way be- 
neath whatever other figure 
or figures may make up the 
number required. The blades 

of these numbering pincers Ti^g Numeroteur. 

work upon a movement 

similar to that of a pair of scissors, the alternate opening and 
shutting of the curved portion or handle also opening and 
shutting the two opposite blades, so that it is only necessary to 




574 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



put the plate of lead straight with the figure which is wanted, 
and then to make a pressure^ to have this figure indented 
on it. At the end of one blade^ in a line with the 
figures, is a small punch, with which, if necessary, to pierce 
the lead, in order to admit of passing through it a wire 
thread, by which it may be suspended. To complete this 
instrument M. Hardiville has added, on the side of one of 
the branches, a small blade, which, by means of a spring 
adapted to the other branch, forms a pair of scissors with 
which to cut the leads. When the scissors are not needed, 
the spring is unfastened, being made to do so easily and 
quickly, and the blade then tightens itself against the branch 
of the pincer without any trouble. At the base is a move- 
able spring which sei'ves to open the branches. Thus we 
see that this instrument is very complete, but its value is 
augmented by its not being complicated, and especially by 
its being of a reasonable price — ten francs.^^ 

The Secateur. — Of garden cutlery I will only mention 
the secateur, and this is an instrument that every gardener 
should possess himself of at once. I know well the pre- 
judice that exists in England among horticulturists against 
things of this kind, and their almost superstitious regard 
for a good knife. I also believed in the knife, but 
when I saw how useful is the secateur to the fruit 
growers of France, and how easily and effectively they 
cut with it exactly as desired, I became at once con- 
verted. A secateur is seen in the hands of every French 
fruit grower, and by its means he cuts as clean as the best 
knife-man with the best knife ever whetted. They cut 
stakes with them almost as fast as one could count them ; 
they have recently made some large ones for cutting 
stronger plants — such as the strong awkward roots of the 
briars collected by the Rose growers. Of these secateurs 
there are many forms, several of the best being figured here. 

First we have the Secateur Vauthier (Fig. 326), a strong 
and handy instrument. Its sloping semi- cylindrical handles 
have their outer side rough, which gives a firm hold ; the 
springs, though strong, resist the action of the hand gently ; 
the curvature of the blade and the adjustment are perfect ; 



THE SECATEUR. 



575 



and lastly^, tlie principal thing, the action is so easy as never 
to hnrt the hand. " During the many years of my expe- 
rience/'' observes M. Lachaume, a fruit grower who describes 
this implement in the Revue Horticole, " I have used tools 
of all kinds, and 
the tools have also 
used me a little ; 
but I have never 
met with anything 
which gave me so 
much satisfaction 
as the Secateur 
Vauthier. Every 
desirable quality is 
combined in it, and 
I recommend it 
with perfect confi- 
dence. The 
strongest branch 
will not resist its 
cutting, nor a sin- 
gle branch, how- 
ever well concealed, 
be inaccessible to 
it. Moreover, the 
double notch on 
the back of the 
blade and hook (in 
which a wire is 
shown in the figure) 
will enable the 

operator when employed at his trellises to cut every wire 
without using the pincers.''^ 

The Secateur Lecointe (Fig. 327) is another variety 
recommended by the leading French horticultural journal. 
The inventor was led to devise this kind of spring in order 
to avoid the annoyance arising from the frequent breakage 
of the form usually employed. It is said that this form of 
spring secures an easy and gentle action of the instrument, 




The Secateur Vauthier, 



576 



HOUTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



and has tlie advantage of lasting longer than others^ from 
not being so liable to break, while it secures a firmness and 
evenness in working which is not otherwise attained. A 
fui'ther improvement is pointed out in the fastenings, which 
consists of a stop which catches when the two handles are 
drawn together^ a projecting portion on the outside acting 
as a spring which is to be pressed when the instrument is 
required to be opened. .M. Lecointe of Laigle is the 
inventor. 

Fig. 328 represents the secateur of older date than the 
preceding, and one more generally used. It is much 



Fig. 327. Fig. 328. 




The Secateur Lecointe. Tlie Common Secateur. 



employed at Montreuil. There can be no doubt that 
where much pruning of any kind is done, and particularly 
pruning of a rather rough nature, the secateur is a valuable 
implement, Eor pruning in which great nicety of cutting 
is required a good and properly shaped knife is best. The 
secateur was first invented by M. Bertrand of MoUeville. 

The Raidisseijr. — This is the name for the little wire- 
straining implement which plays such a very important part in 
the wiring of garden walls, or erecting of trellises for fruit 
growing in France. It is an implement which, though 
insignificant in itself, is calculated to make a vast improve- 



THE RAIDISSEUR. 



577 



ment in our gardens and on our walls. It will save labour^ 
time^ expense^ and make walls,, and permanent trellises for 
fruit growing infinitely more agreeable to the eye and useful 
to the cultivator than ever they were before. 

There are various forms wbich. I need bardly describe^ as 
they are so well shown 
in the accompanying 
cuts. The first (Fig. 329) 
is a reduced figure of 
one about three inches 
long, and of which I The Kaidisseur. 

brought some specimens 

from Paris. The engraver has placed it in the best position 
to show its structure. The wire that passes in through one 
end is slipped through a hole in the axle ; the other end is 
attached to the tongue, as shown in the engraving, and 
then by the aid of a key. Fig. 330, placed on the square 

Fig. 330. 




Key of Kaidisseur. 

end of the axle, the whole is wound much as a guitar 
string is wound round its peg. The first form figured is 
very much used in the best gardens, and always seemed to 
me to do its work effectively. 

The next figure is that of the E-aidisseur invented by 
Collignon and re- 
commended by 
Du Breuil. It 
does not differ 
much from the 
preceding. D 

shows the point Collignon's Eaidisseur. 

of insertion of 

the wire that has to be tightened ; B the fastening of 

p p 




57S 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



the other end of the wire 



key is placed. Fig. 332 



IS 



and A the head on which the 
a side view of the same imple- 



FiG. 332. 




Side View of Collignon's Raidisseur. 



ment. The fore- 
going kinds are 
galvanized; just 
like the wire. 
That shown by 
Fig. 333 is a 
very simple one, 

not galvanized, which was much used in the fruit 
garden of the Paris Exhibition. This last form is surely 
such as can be readily and cheaply produced in any 
manufacturing town. The best of these tighteners cost but 
a few pence ; and if it were not so, it would still be profit- 

FiG. 333. 




Raidissisuv used in tlie garden of the Exhibition. 

able to employ them, in consequence of the great saving 
they effect, by enabling us to use a very thin wire, which is 
quite as efficient and infinitely neater than the ponderous 
ones now generally employed by us, where the nail and 
shred have given way to some costly system of wiring. 

Since writing the foregoing I have found a much im- 
proved and very simple raidisseur in use at Thomery. Fig. 
334 represents its actual size. It is simply a little piece of 
cast-iron costing little more than a garden nail — so small that 
its presence on wall or trellis does not look awkward, as in 
the case of some of the larger kinds, and very effective. 
I never met with it except in the garden of M. Rose- 



3IATE11IAL rOR TYING PLANTS. 



579 



Charmeux at Thomery. The walls there are very neatly 
wired by its help, and it is equally useful for espaliers. I 
have indeed never visited a garden in which the walls and 
trellises were so neatly done, and all by means of this 
simple strainer and the galvanized wire. Fig. 334 shows 
the wire strained tight, and is a little more than half the size 
I recommend. Messrs. J. B. Brown and Co., of 90, Cannon- 
street, have at my request cast a great number of these, 
and can supply them in any quantity and at a very low 
rate. They are made of malleable cast-iron, and are gal- 
vanized. The edges of the division in the head of this 
little implement being sharp, those of the specimen I 
brought from France were filed to prevent them cutting 
the wire in the straining ; but any danger from this source 



Fig. 334. 




The simplest and best form of Eaidisseur. 



is quite obviated by allowing the wire to be loose enough 
to permit of one coil being wound round the neck of the 
raidisseur before the real strain is applied. It is almost 
needless to add that the wire is simply placed in the groove 
in the head of the raidisseur, which is then turned, and 
finally tightened with a key like that for the other forms. 

Material for Tying Plants. — The drop wears away the 
stone in a far larger sense than is usually accepted with 
this trite saying. Petty cares often help to wear away the 
soul, and petty details occupy much of our life. Small 
indeed, then, must be that which we can call beneath our 
notice. The tying of plants, of fruit trees, of anything 
and everything in a garden, is not often a conspicuous 
effort ; but it occupies on the whole a great deal of time, 
even in small places. In larger ones operations of this 

p p 2 



580 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



kind often occupy several men for weeks at a time. The 
material usually employed with us is bass matting, and in 
most large gardens a number of bass mats are annually cut 
up and used for this purpose. Of late years tbey have 
trebled in price. There is the labour of cutting them into 
shreds, and of selecting the best strings for tying, but after 
all the trouble a perfect and a cheap material is not the 
result. 

This expense may be done away with, and a much better 
material secured, by simply planting a few tufts of the 
common glaucous Eush (Juncus glaucus) in some moist 
spot, or, where much tying is to be done, a few dozen tufts. 
The stems of this plant are smooth and ready for use at 
any moment, and are suited for tying everything except 
the strong or mother branches of fruit trees (for which 
twigs of the yellow osier are best fitted) and the finest 
and youngest shoots of hothouse plants. The E-ush may be 
cut green and used out of hand, or it may be cut soon after 
flowering for winter use in a dried state. AVhen wanted 
in winter it is desirable to steep it in water a couple of 
hours before it is used, so as to insure the requisite flexi- 
bility. It forms a neat and lasting tie, and is not knotted 
like the matting, but simply twisted, then pinched ofi* with 
the nail or cut with the knife, and one of the ends turned 
back a little. For tying the young shoots of fruit trees 
to an espalier it is admirable, as it is for most other pur- 
poses of training. When men are accustomed to it, they 
work with greater facility with it than with anything 
else. When green it is a matter of no trouble for a horny 
hand to pinch it instead of cutting it ofi" ; thus the work- 
man has not the trouble of employing a knife, and has both 
hands free. 

The dried grass of Lygeum Spartum is also used in 
France to a great extent for gardening purposes. It is a 
Spanish grass which I have grown pretty freely on cold 
soils in England, and which will do well on warm ones 
everywhere with us. It is suitable for very strong and 
durable tying. Thus the two best materials for this purpose 
may be grown in any garden without cost. If the expensive 



MATERIAL FOR TYING GRAFTS AND BUDS. 581 



matting ^ere as cheaply got as these^ tlie fact that the Rush 
and Grass are ready rolled in twine-like fashion, should make 
lis prefer them. In tying carefully it is necessary to twist 
the matting, and thus a good deal of time is lost. 

In addition to the above hardy plants, the " grass '''' of 
which may be directly used for tying, the leaves of the New 
Zealand Flax, Phormium tenax, are very largely employed for 
that purpose about Paris. This plant is grown everywhere in 
greenhouses for room decoration. The long leaves being 
produced in great abundance, the old leaves that are cut 
away are preserved, 
thus securing a strong 
and excellent material 
for tying. 

Material for Tying 
Grafts and Buds. — 
The dried stems of 
Sparganium ramosum, 
the Bur reed, have re- 
placed woollen thread 
for budding purposes in 
France. In texture they 
are peculiarly suited to 
this purpose, being soft, 
dense, elastic, and tough, 
so as to enable the ope- 
rator to secure an effec- 
tive tie. The plant is 
a common waterweed, 
growing everywhere in Britain along the margins of ponds, 
streams, and ditches, and about three feet high. It is 
therefore a very cheap material, and may be cut and stored 
in any quantity for budding and grafting purposes. 

I have seen it in extensive use in some of the largest 
and best nurseries in France, and have no doubt that it 
is an economical and real improvement. The stems of 
the common BuUrush (Typha latifolia) are used for like 
purposes, but not so extensively. By means of these, 
many French grafters have been enabled to do away 




582 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



with all expense for woollen and cotton thread. The Spar- 
ganium is gathered in summer when fully grown ; the leaves,, 
which are united at the base^ separated^, and placed to dry 
in a shed or barn hung up in bundles. When required for 
use they are cut into the necessary length, from fourteen to 
twenty inches, steeped in water for a few hours, and then 
slightly dried by pressure or wringing. In large field 
nurseries, where there is no water, bundles of the Bur reed 
are simply kept moist and flexible by being buried in the 
earth, and they may also be kept so by placing them in a 
cellar. It must not be used very wet, and if too dry it 
is more liable to crack. It is found to bend best when ap- 

FiG. 336. 




Mode of Protecting Walls. A, Paillasson or neat straw mat, two feet wide, 
held between laths, for placing under the permanent copings while there 
is danger of frost. 

plied edgeways to the body which it is to envelope, and 
slightly twisted. For all kinds of budding and grafting, 
except large cleft-grafting and the like, it is as good a ma- 
terial as can be found. 

Protection for Wall and Espalier Trees. — Ha^dng 
several times spoken of the deep temporary copings the care- 
ful French cultivator uses for his fruit wall, I here give a 
rough figure showing a section of the tile-coped wall, and 
projecting from beneath it the supports for the temporary 
protection. The Fi-ench take a good deal of trouble with 
tem])orary copings, and find them of the greatest value in 
getting regular crops ; for the frosts are severe in the 



PROTECTION FOR WALL AND ESPALIER TREES. 583 



Fig 



nortlierii parts and all around Paris^ and^ in fact^, over nearly 
all the region north of the river Loire — the most important 
of France. The best appliance of this kind I have ever 
seen consisted of narrow lengths of bitnminized felt nailed on 
cheap frames from six feet to eight feet long^ and about 
eighteen inches wide. The use of these on walls devoted to 
the culture of choice Pears^ Peaches, &c., would result in a 
marked improvement. The temporary coping has a great 
advantage in being removable, so that the trees may get the 
full benefit of the summer rains when all danger is past, 
and not suflPer from want of light near the top of the 
wall, as they would if such a 
wide protection were perma- 
nent. I believe that similar 
copings would be much 
more efi'ective than any of 
the netting and canvas pro- 
tections now in use in Eng- 
lish gardens. 

The commonest temporary 
coping seen in France is 
made of straw nailed between 
laths ; it seems to answer its 
purpose very well, but is 
not so neat and satisfactory 
as that made of bituminized felt. Whatever kind of protec- 
tion be employed, care is taken to throw the wet well off 
the wall ; the slightest experience of the effects of frost on 
vegetation will show the wisdom of this course. Of what 
does it avail to place a net or a few branchlets of trees 
before a fruit wall, if we allow the cold rains and sleet to 
dash on to every tender little brush of pollen-bearing stamens 
on the wall ? Even when the French do employ canvas in 
front of a wall they usually use the wide temporary coping 
too, thus keeping the wall dry and preventing radiation. 

Whatever imperfect efforts ^ve make to protect our 
wall trees, nobody in England ever thinks of protect- 
ing espaliers, but the French sometimes do it with 
success. Fig. 338 shows a mode of arranging two 




Wall with permanent coping of tiles, 
temporary one of straw mats, and 
canvas in front. 



584 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



rows of trees in a manner different to tliat already sliown 
on the double trellis. The main supports are strong posts. 
French gardens are usually surrounded by walls^ and 

Fig. 338. 




Double Espalier with a row of Cordons on each side, showing Mode of Protecting 
the whole in Spring. A, Wooden support ; B, B, Supports for protection ; 
F, F, Wide temporary copings of neat straw mats, held by iron brackets ; 
H, H, Galvanized wires fixed at E, E, descending at intervals and fixed 
in the iron posts, L, L, and to stones in the ground ; G, One of the lines run- 
ning across the Espaliers from the walls of the garden. 

in establishing a system of trellising for growing the choicer 
pears, it is considered wise to stretch an occasional wire from 
the trellis to the adjoining walls, or from one trellis to 



PROTECTION FOR WALL AND ESPALIER TREES. 585 



another. Thus if a whole square is devoted to galvanized 
trellises for Pears — at say nine feet high, and at from fifteen 
to tTrenty feet apart^ the intermediate space being cropped, 

Fig. 339. 




AYall protected with wide temporary coping and canvas curtains. E, Iron sup- 
port; 1), Horizontal Cordon Apple on Paradise Stock; B and C, eyes in the 
iron to permit of galvanized wires being passed through. These wires support 
the canvas which is stretched from C to B, 

the trellises, in addition to being individually well supported, 
afford each other a mutual support by means of strong 
wires running across all the lines of trellising, say at thirty 



5S6 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



Fia. 340. 




feet apart. At tlie bottom run rows of horizontal cordon 
Apples of the most important kinds. The posts are placed 

closer together in erecting 
the trellises than when the 
trees are abandoned to the 
vicissitudes of the weather. 

I describe this more for 
what it suggests than any- 
thing else. Some similar 
arrangement is badly 
wanted with us^ and should 
not be difficult to contrive. 
By having a few lines of 
choice Apples trained on 
the low cordon system at 
each side^ and two good 
rows of Pear trees^ a great 
deal of valuable fruit could 
be protected at the same 
time by making some ar- 
whereby the whole could be covered with cheap 
canvas. 

Shading for Conservatories. — A mode of shading con- 
servatories and glasshouses by means of laths and slender 

rods of wood is com- ^ 

. Fia.341. 
mon m jbrance_, and 

several inquiries about 
it induced me to ob- 
tain specimens of the 
various kinds used, and 
have them figured. 
The illustrations repre- 
sent small portions of 
this shading of exactly 
the full size. The large 
one of laths united by 
wire is frequently used for the outer side of the roof of con- 
servatories, in which position it is supposed to save a 
great deal of trouble as compared with the common modes 



Mode of Fixing Iron Support, &c., shown 
in preceding Figures. 



rangement 




Portion of Latli 



■liciLle for roof of Conservatory : 
full size. 



ATTACHING WIRE TO GARDEN WALLS, ETC. 587 




Shade of very slender rods of wood and twine : 
full size. 



of shading by canvas and like materials. It is sold in 
lengths about a yard 

wide, but may be Fig. 342. 

readily adapted to tbe 
roof of a conservatory 
of any sliape, and fitted 
into the smallest 
nooks on curvilinear 
roofs. The two smaller 
sizes woven together 
by twine would seem 

better adapted for the inner sides of windows in corri- 
dors and conservato- 
FiG. 343. i^ies. The three kinds 

are made by M. Mus- 
serano, Rue du Fau- 
bourg St. Denis, Paris, 
and the large one, M. 
Lebeauf, 6, Rue Vesale, 
Jardin des Plantes. 

Attaching Wire 
TO Garden - walls, 
Trellising, &c. — If 
there be any one practice of French horticulturists more 
worthy of special recommendation to the English fruit- 
grower than another, it is their improved way of placing 
wires on walls, or in any position in which it may be 
desired to neatly train fruit trees. So many have been the 
failures in British gardens as regards the placing of the 
wire to which to affix the trees, that the system has been 
given up as useless and too expensive, and many have said 
that the old-fashioned shred and nail are yet the best. 
But there is a very much better and sounder way, and I 
am completely converted as to the value of the French 
mode of wiring here illustrated. In the first instance, 
several strong iron spikes are driven into the brickwork 
at the ends — in the right angle formed by two walls — 
nails with eyes in them being driven in in straight lines, 
exactly in the line of direction in which the wire is 




Shade of small Laths and slender Rods united 
by twine : full size. 



588 HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



wanted to pass. The wires are placed at about ten 
inclies apart on the walls^, and the little hooks for their 
support, also galvanized;, are fixed at about ten feet apart 
along each wire. The exact distance between the wires must, 
however, be deterniined by the kind of tree and the form to 
be given to it. If horizontal training of the branches be 
adopted, the wires had better be placed to form the lines 
which we wish the branches to follow ; if the branches are 
vertical, as in Fig. 243, we need not be so exact. The wire — 

Fig. 344. 



I 
I 



I 
I 
I 

-=3 1 



Mode of arranging wires on walls for training fruit trees with vertical or hori- 
zontal branches. A, Position of raidisseur ; B, Nails with eyes, through which 
the wire is passed. 

about as thick as strong twine — is passed through the little 
hooks, fastened at both ends of the wall into the strong iron 
nails, and then made as straight as a needle and as tight as 
a drum, by being strained with the raidisseur. The wires 
remain at about the distance of half an inch or three quarters 
from the wall. 

If we consider the expense of the shreds and nails, the 
cutting of the former, the destroying of the surface of the 
walls by the nails, and the leaving of numerous holes for 
vermin to take refuge in ; the great annual labour of nailing, 
and the miserable work it is for men in our cold winters and 



ATTACHING WIRE TO GARDEN WALLS, ETC. 589 



springs,, — it will be freely admitted that a change is wanted 
badly. The system of wiring a wall above described is 
simple^ cheapj almost everlasting, and excellent in every 
particular ; and it must before many years elapse be nearly 
universally adopted in our fruit gardens. A man may do 
as much work in one day along a wall wired thus as he 
could in six with the old nail and shred. As to galvanized 
wire having an injurious effect on the fruit trees trained on 
it, it is simply nonsense ; I will not therefore waste space and 
the intelligent reader's time by discussing it. Given a 
concrete wall, as described elsewhere in this book, smoothly 



Fig. 345. 




Wall with Galvanized Wires for training Trees. 



plastered, and wired thus, what fruit trees could be in a 
more excellent position than those upon it? The tempo- 
rary coping taken off after all danger from frost was past, 
every leaf would be under the refreshing influence of the 
summer rains, all the advantages of walls as regards heat 
would be obtained, the syringing engine would not be 
counteracted by countless dens offering dry beds and com- 
fortable breeding-places to the enemies of the gardener and 
the fruit tree, while the appearance of the wall would be all 
that could be desired. 

The wire and the raidisseur are also efficiently used so as 
to do away with any necessity for nailing in training the 



590 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



Peach and otlier trees_, when trained as cordons^ as shown 
in the accompanying figure. "When the lines which the 




wires are to follow are fixed upon^ bolts and eyes are driven 
in^ the wire is fixed to and passed throngh them^ and then 
made firm^ as shown in the illustrations. 



GALTA^'IZED WIRE USED IX THE FRUIT GARDEN. 591 

The French, apply the term espalier to their wall trees, 
and in adopting the -vrord from them we have transferred it 
to trees standing in the open, but trained in a similar 
manner. They term our espalier contre-espalier/^ but 
the terms Trail tree and espalier are distinctly and gene- 
rally understood among us, and therefore it is better to 
employ them in their usual sense. The simplicity and 
excellence of their mode of making supports for espaliers 
will be better shown by the figures in the account of 
Versailles than by verbal description. The mode of making 
trellises for espalier trees now being extensively adopted 
in France is far 
superior to our 
own mode, and 
owes its excel- 
lence to the 
abundant use of 
slender galva- 
nized wire and 
the little tight- 
ening imple- 
ments, or rai- 
disseurs. 

The wire, 
which is so uni- 
versally useful 
for the fruit gar- 
den, is sold in twenty-three different sizes. Of this an in- 
termediate size, 12, IJi, or 14, is that best suited and usually 
selected for strong and permanent garden work, albeit a 
mere thread to the costly bolt-like irons we use. The sort 
suited for walls is sold at about 3/. 6s. for 100 kilogrammes, 
equal to a little more than 2.20 lbs. English. Each kilo- 
gramme (a trifle more than 2 lbs. 3 oz.) of this affords more 
than 131 English feet of wire. The price given is that for 
the second quality of we ; the first quality of the same 
pattern costs about 65. Qd. more for the 220 lbs. Thus, of 
this wire of the very best quality, and such as, if placed 
properly in its position, is as permanent as it is useful. 



Fig. 347. 




Wall Wired for Cordon Training. 



59.C HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 

200 lbs. avoirdupois may be obtained for less than 4/._, and 
220 lbs. will extend a distance of 13,123 English feet. This 
size will also suit well for espaliers, No. 12 being strong enough 
for the coarsest trees on walls or trellises, and 1 3 and 14 quite 
large enough for general work. A size, or even several sizes 
smaller, will suffice for dwarf trellises with three rows of wire 
or so, to accommodate very dwarf trees of any shape the culti- 
vator may desire. Since writing the above, I have been in- 
formed by Messrs. J. B. Brown and Co., of 90, Cannon-street, 
that they supply the chief Parisian houses who furnish French 
fruit-growers with this useful galvanized wire. The sizes 
appropriate for cordons, trellises, &c., are sold at from 30^. 



Fig. 348. 




Trellis for young Trees in Nurseries. 



to 445. per mile, so that the material is cheap enough. It 
is sold by weight. No. 12 size being Sis. per cwt. of 1241 
yards, and a smaller size 34^. per cwt. of 2031 yards. 
Those who merely want a little wire for experimenting with 
cordons can buy it by length, the smaller size at 2^. Sd., 
the larger at 3^. 6d. per 100 yards. 

In some of the best fruit nurseries I noticed a simple and 
effective kind of trellising used for training young wall and 
espalier trees. It is useful in enabling the French to keep 
in stock trees for these purposes to a greater age than is 
the case in our own nurseries, and for various purposes 
should prove useful to the grower of young fruit trees. A 



EDGINGS FOR PARKS, PUBLIC GARDENS, DRIVES, ETC. 593 

larger and raodified application of the same plan would do 
well for large espalier trees ; indeed, I have seen it applied 
with good effect, and it perfectly suits a method which is 
not uncommon in France, of keeping the upper branches of 
trees, trained horizontally, shorter than the lower ones (Fig. 
364), so as to secure perfect vigour in the lower branches. 
This trellis may be established at a trifling cost by using light 
posts of rough wood, or, if permanent, and greater strength 
be desired, of T-iron. In either case the posts must be 
firmly fixed. The wire should be passed through a hole or 
strong eye in the top of the pole, and fixed with stones 
or irons in the ground. In order to train the shoots 
straight, their rods may be extended from the post to the 
wires with but little trouble. Other illustrations of the 
neatest and best trellises in use in French gardens occur in 
several parts of this volume. Those in the Imperial gardens 
at Versailles cannot be surpassed for appearance and 
durability. 

Edgings for Parks, Public Gardens, Squares, Drives, 
&c. — The edgings in gardens have a very important bearing 
on their general aspect, and often on their cleanliness. Hosts 
of people with gardens are continually looking out for a good 
edging, and many are taken in by the aspect of those made 
of tiles, material, &c. Any variety of brick, imitation stone, 
or terra- cotta edging, is the ugliest and most unsatisfactory 
thing that can be admitted into an ornamental garden. 
Massive edgings of stone around panels, in geometrical 
gardens, are of course not included in those alluded to. 
Pottery edgings are enough to spoil the prettiest garden 
ever made, and are as much at home round a country seat 
as a red Indian at a mild evening party. 

Looking at them as they are carefully arranged by ex- 
hibitors in one or two of our public gardens, you may 
possibly think they are clean, symmetrical, and everything 
to be desired. But when brought home and arranged 
round the borders their true charms begin to display them- 
selves. Being all of an exact pattern, they must be arranged 
so as to look quite straight in the line. If they wabble 
about, one this way and one that, the line is not agreeable, 

Q Q 



594 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



even granting that the things themselves are tolerable. It 
is difficult to set" them easily and cheaply, so that they 
will remain erect. To have them set by a mason is a plan 
resorted to by some; but it is simply a way of wasting 
money. Of course, a good workman may arrange them 
neatly enough by ramming down the soil firmly on each 
side ; but even then, they are, after all, the worst variety of 
edging known. They are also often of a texture that 
cracks into small pieces with the first frost, though there 
are some much more tenacious. The expense in the first 
instance is heavy, and one way or another they become un- 
satisfactory, till there is no tolerating them any longer, and 



Fig. 349. 




Showing the effect of Eustic Iron Edgings in the public gardens. 



they are thrown by with the old iron or the oyster 
shells. 

The reason why people have resorted to them is, that the 
edgings ordinarily used often prove disappointing and dirty, 
and they long for something that will be neat and tidy at 
all times. To abuse a bad thing without offering a better, 
or any at all, is often no better than to stand still and tolerate 
a nuisance ; but in this instance I am able to recommend a 
capital permanent edging — everlasting, in fact, and with 
nothing that could offend the most critical taste. It is 
simply made of rustic rods of cast iron, in imitation of the 
little edgings of bent branchlets that everybody must have 



EDGINGS FOR PARKS, PUBLIC GARDENS, DRIVES, ETC. 595 

seen. They are evidently cast from the model of a bent 
branchlet, generally about as thick as the thumbs but they 
are of various sizes. The marks where the twigs are sup- 
posed to have been cut off are visible,, and altogether the 
thing looks as rustic as as could be desired^ is firm as a rock 
when placed in position, and, in a word, perfect. These 
irons are of course stuck in the ground firmly, and as shown 



Fia. 350. 




The large Iron Edgings (nineteen inches in span) used in the public parks. 



in the figures. They may be set up by anybody. The fact 
that they are not stiff and ugly tile-like bodies prevents 
their offending the eye if one or two should fall a little out 
of the line here and there. But this is nearly impossible ; 
for at the place where every two sticks cross each other they 
are tied by a scrap of common wire. 

They should be so plunged in the walk, or by the side of 



Fig. 351. 




Cast Iron Edgings (twelve inches span) used in the public gardens. 



the walk, that about six inches of the little fence appears 
above ground. This, however, may be varied with the size 
of the subjects which they are used to encompass ; six or 
seven inches is the height given for edges for ordinary pur- 
poses. They are equally useful for the park, pleasure- 
ground, or even the kitchen-garden. In parks and pleasure- 
grounds^ however, we usually have edgings of grass, and 

Q Q 2 



596 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



therefore it may occur to the reader that they are useless 
therein ; but the little fences of bent wood which furnished 
the idea for these iron edgings were generally used to pre- 
vent grass near drives and walks from being trodden 
upon ; and of course those now recommended will answer 
the purpose better. However, it is in much-frequented 
places along drives, and in public gardens and parks, that 
their chief merit will be found. They may be seen in 
every public garden in Paris, from the gardens round the 
Louvre, where you may notice them obscurely running along 
outside of the Ivy edgings, to the slopes of the Buttes Chau- 
mont and the more frequented parts of the Bois de Bou- 
logne ; and they must ere long be as widely adopted in 
England, for it is impossible to find a better or more pre- 
sentable edging. In all squares or lawns where croquet is 
played they will, if set rather deeply, be found peculiarly 
useful in preventing the balls from running over the beds 
and breaking the plants. In some London squares I have 
recently noticed the beds raised bodily to a height of fifteen 
inches above the level, as a protection against croquet balls. 
All this trouble might be saved in a few minutes by placing 
these rustic iron edgings around the beds. 

The Cloche. — This is simply a large and cheap bell- 
glass, which is used in every French garden that I have 
seen. It is the cloche which enables the French market 
gardeners to excel all others in the production of winter 

and spring salads. Acres of them 
352. jnay be seen round Paris, and 

private places have them in 
proportion to their extent — from 
the small garden of the amateur 
with a few dozen or score, to 
the large one where they require 
several hundreds or thousands of 
them. They are about sixteen 

The Cloche as used in Winter- . , t . ^ j xi. • j • 

Lettuce culture. i^^chcs high, and the same m dia- 

meter at the base, and cost in 
France about a franc a piece, or a penny or two less if 
bought in quantity. 




THE CLOCHE. 



597 



Fia. 353. 




The Cloche as used in the 
raising of seedling plants. 



The advantages of the cloches are — they never require any 
repairs; they are easy of carriage when carefully packed; 
with ordinary care they are seldom broken ; they are easily 
cleaned — a swill in a water tank and a wipe with a brush 
every autumn clear and prepare them for their winter work. 
They are useful for many purposes besides salad growing ; for 
example^ in advancing various crops 
in spring, raising seedlings, and 
striking cuttings ; and finally, they 
are very cheap when bought in 
quantity. But of course it is only 
in market gardens that they will be 
required in numbers ; in some small 
gardens not more than a few dozen 
will be wanted. Every garden should 
be furnished with them according to 
its size; and when we get used to 
them and learn how very useful 
they are for many things, from the full developing of 
a Christmas Rose to the forwarding of early crops in 
spring, I have no doubt they will be much in demand. It 
is not only in winter that they are useful, but at all seasons, 
both in indoor and outdoor propagation and seed sowing. 
In France seedlings of garden crops likely to be destroyed 
by birds or insects are frequently raised under the cloche, 
and the same practice will occasionally be found advan- 
tageous in this country. 

Usually the cloche is made with- 
out a knob, as that appendage renders 
their package a much greater difficulty 
and increases the cost, so that practical 
men use only the one without the knob, 
like the specimens first figured. One 
with a knob may, however, be had, 
but it is not to be recommended. 
Allusion has been made at p. 146 to the use of small 
bell-glasses with openings at the top. It would be a great 
improvement if some cloches were made in like manner, 
and this particularly for propagation in tan-beds and hot 



Fia. 354. 




Cloche with knob. 



598 



HORTICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 



pits. The opening would afford very slight tliongh bene- 
ficial ventilation, and give a means of carrying or shifting 
the cloche with one hand only. I am informed that there 
will be no difficulty in making them thus without additional 
trouble or expense, as soon as the firm who will undertake 
their manufacture in England have full preparations made. 
When not in use the careful cultivator puts his cloches in 
some bye place, in little piles of half a dozen in each, a 
piece of wood not more than half an inch thick and an inch 
and a half square being placed between each, so as to prevent 
them from settling down on each other. Workmen used 
to them carry two or three in each hand in conveying 



Fig. 355. 




The Cloche as used in the Propagating-house. 



them from place to place, by putting a finger between each. 
In commencing to use them in our gardens it would be well 
to see that they are placed in some spot where they will 
not be in danger of breakage. The cloche must not be 
confounded with the dark and very large bell glass that was 
in common use many years ago in our market gardens, and 
which may yet be seen here and there. These were even 
dearer than the hand-glasses by which they were driven out 
of use. The French cloche does not cost one-fourth so 
much as a hand-light — and moreover does not, require both 
painter, glazier, and plumber for keeping it in repair. It 
will prove a distinct improvement in every class of garden. 
How to procure these cloches has hitherto been the great 



THE CLOCHE. 



599 



difficulty. Many "bave been deterred from employing them 
by the trouble^ expense^ and loss consequent on ordering 
them from France, and I have always despaired of their 
becoming useful to cultivators generally till they were pro- 
duced in England at a cheap rate. Even if the carriage 
Tvas not as heavy as it is, the risk of conveying such very 
fragile articles across the Channel is such as would prevent 
us from getting them in a satisfactory way. 

I am pleased to announce that Messrs. E. Breffit and Co., 
proprietors of the Aire and Calder Glass Bottle Company's 
Works in Yorkshire, well known for its productions, are 
making preparations for their manufacture on an extensive 
scale. They will be able to supply them soon, and wiU have 
an abundant stock by the time it is necessary to employ 
them over next winter's crops of Salads and other vegetables 
requiring their protection. They propose to sell them at 
from lOd. to 1^. each, according to the quantities required, 
and a small addition for package and carriage will put them 
down in every part of the kingdom. Messrs. Breffit and Co. 
have offices at 83, Upper Thames -street, E.C. ; stores at 
Free Trade Wharf, Broad-street, Ratcliff, E., 120, Duke- 
street, Liverpool — the seat of manufacture being at Castle- 
ford, near Normanton, Yorkshire. At any of the addresses 
orders will be taken and executed as soon as possible. It 
is fortunate that the manufacture of the cloche has been 
taken up by a firm with every means of carrying it on in 
the best manner, and with stores in the north and in 
Liverpool, as well as in London. They will be supplied to 
the nursery and seed as well as to the glass trades at whole- 
sale prices. 

In consequence of the fact that many of the articles 
mentioned in this chapter have not till recently been obtain- 
able in this country, it may save trouble in inquiries to 
state that Messrs. J. B. Brown & Co., of 90, Cannon-street, 
E.C, have undertaken to keep a stock of them, including 
raidisseurs, chairs, shaded seats, iron implements, edgings in 
rustic iron, galvanized wire, and everything necessary for 
the making of improved fruit trellises, etc. 



600 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR THROUGH PARTS OF 
FRANCE IN 1868. 

During the past summer I visited various parts of France, 
with the view, as usual, to observe interesting examples of 
fruit culture and horticulture generally. These notes, 
although dealing with several localities far removed from 
Paris, will yet be considered quite admissible here, from 
their relation to the fruit question in which we are all 
so much interested. 

Lyons. — Great improvements in the way of creating pro- 
menades, parks, squares, and gardens are visible in this fine 
city as well as at Paris, and the noble public garden situated 
outside the city, near the banks of the Ehone, is one of the 
finest I have ever seen. A detailed description of it would 
require too much space, but a few notes of the chief points 
observed during a hurried visit may be of interest. Enter- 
ing it on a bright midsummer morning at seven o^clock, the 
first thing that struck my eye was the feathery spray from 
the quantity of self-acting hose employed in keeping the 
turf green — no easy task in these parts. It is the same 
plan as that used in Paris which is elsewhere described ; 
and it has the same agreeable result — fresh green grass 
at all times. The place is dififerent to any we have in 
England, partaking of the characters of park, botanic 
garden, and zoological garden, all so combined that a high 
degree of beauty everywhere prevails. Here you get a 
glimpse of a railed field, with cattle grazing as in a well- 
kept pasture at home — a few minutes more, and an immense 
garden comes in yiqw, presently to be succeeded by a group 
of conservatories, a fruit garden, a vineyard, a collection of 



LYONS. 



601 



herbaceous and alpine plants,, and so on^ while frequently 
magnificent masses of colour meet the view. 

The purely scientific portion is not allowed to disfigure 
the garden^ while it is as useful as in public gardens where 
it is allowed to destroy every trace of repose or naturalness. 
It is arranged in circular beds^ handy for reference and also 
for keeping the plants distinct. The fruit garden is not 
large, and aims more at showing the various forms of fruit- 
trees than obtaining crops of fruit. Of course it is impos- 
sible to get a good result as regards produce, and grow in a 
small space many varieties in all sorts of forms. The vase 
form was very perfect here ; it seems more ornamental than 
useful. A novel way of growing Peaches was in operation. 
It was a treUis backed with the neat straw mats so common 
in French gardens. At the top a slight provision was made 
on which to place a narrow straw mat, so as to protect 
the trees in spring. Lathyrus ensifolius, a fine hardy 
perennial kind, was observed here in flower. There is a 
good deal of glass in the gardens, the larger conservatories 
having Palms and fine-leaved subjects planted out and 
arranged with admirable effect. Some of the smaller houses 
are on a plan analogous to the very useful ones at La 
Muette — a house placed at right angles to the others offers 
free communication to all, and the workmen when removing 
tender plants from one house to the other have not to 
expose them to the open air. The houses are mostly 
shaded with a very strong and thick but small-meshed net- 
ting, made out of the fibre of Lygeum Spartum. It seems 
a decided improvement on the lath shadings so often used 
on the Continent. 

There seemed great activity and good management in the 
hot-house department, and a capital feature was displayed 
near it — a large trial ground. This disposed in parallel beds, 
contained numbers of most things in the way of ornamental 
plants for summer gardens, from Pelargoniums to Cle- 
matises. There is a memorial column in the garden, 
and between the wide steps of this column and its actual 
base, a rather narrow cavity is left, from which springs a 
healthy ring of Laurel. It is a novelty, and in good taste. 



602 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



In many of the well-planted and shady promenades of 
Lyons white stone seats are adopted instead of wooden ones, 
and very well they look — simple stone slabs, with stone 
supports of course. 

Towards the close of the Paris Exhibition of 1867, a 
noble Peach tree was shown by M. Morel, trained as a 
Palmette Verrier, and so well trained as to excite the admi- 
ration of all who saw it. M. Morel lives at Vaise, a 
suburb of Lyons, and to visit him was one of the chief 
objects of my journey to this city. He is not a grower for 
the market, or a person who devotes himself exclusively to 
the culture of the Peach, but a general nurseryman. The 
wall on which his Peaches are grown is on an average 
thirteen feet high, and it is made of very cheap material — 
the common earth of the garden. First of all a foundation 
is made, and the wall raised a little above the surface of the 
ground with stone, so as to guard the chief material from 
injury by frost and wet. Then the earth is laid in and well 
battered down between boards, and on every layer of earth 
there is deposited about an inch and a half of mortar. The 
layers in one wall were about one foot deep; in another — 
the better wall of the two — they were about two feet deep ; 
and between each layer the thin seam of mortar could be 
distinctly seen. The walls are about eighteen inches thick, 
and capped with a coping of tiles, under which are inserted 
iron supports for protection in spring. Wires are run along 
these, so that the mats may be conveniently supported. 

It is worthy of particular notice that while the Peach does 
very well about here as a standard tree, good cultivators find 
distinct advantages not alone in growing it against a wall, 
but also in well protecting it when in flower. M. Morel 
considered that it is of decided advantage in three ways — 
firstly, in securing a crop by preserving the flowers from 
destruction by frost ; secondly, by saving the trees from the 
malady caused by frosts and sleety rains falling on the 
young leaves and budding shoots ; and thirdly, by the ten- 
dency which a wide temporary coping has in making the 
tree push more vigorously in its lower than in its upper 
parts. A wide mat at the top of the wall in spring 



LYONS. 603 

obscures the light to a considerable extent from the points 
of the branches at the top, and this prevents the sap from 
running to the top as it generally does. However, a 
good trainer can always take care of that, and I merely 
mention these things to show that, even in a climate 
much better than that of Paris, protection to the wall is 
considered a necessity. The trees away from walls are often 
attacked by gum and the maladies caused by the cold of 
spring,''^ to use M. jMorel^s words. Does not this suggest 
the true cause of the miserable aspect of many Peach trees 
where careful protection in spring is not resorted to ? In 
numerous large British gardens, with plenty of means 
and time for less important objects than fruit culture, 
the walls are often left exposed or with the most meagre 
protection — a net, with a clear space at top, so that there is 
nothing whatever to prevent radiation or the cold sleety 
rains of spring from descending straight on the young leaves 
and flowers ; while in many continental gardens, with but 
a solitary man to attend to them, careful protection is regu- 
larly given. 

Parallel with the Peach wall runs a trellis for training 
espalier trees, and this is also protected in spring, and in a 
very simple way. A cross bar is supported by the upright 
of the trellis, and lines of wire are run through it. Two 
double lines of wire are employed, so that the neat straw 
mats used for protection may be inserted between them, and 
be thus kept quite firm. The portions of the walls here 
occupied by the old and established trees were perfectly 
covered with the healthiest and the finest subjects I have 
ever seen ; even the bases of the stems and the branches had 
shoots trained over them, so that their surface was not 
awkwardly visible, as is too often the case. The forms most 
employed are the Palmette Verrier and the Candelabrum, 
which is simply made by training branches vertically from a 
horizontal shoot running near the ground. The pruning is 
done in winter, when time and weather permit, and not in 
spring, as is generally the case. There can be little gained 
by waiting till streams of sap are ascending through the 
branches, and a very little discernment suflices to distinguish 



1 . 



604 



NOTES or A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



the various kinds of buds in winter as well as in spring. The 
walls of earth cost about a franc fifty centimes a metre ; of 
stone^ five francs. The earth walls^ when well made^ last for a 
couple of centuries. I saw a house near at hand constructed 
in the same way, which had been erected one hundred years. 
An important point in M. Morels culture, is that he does not 
stop the leading shoots, except when one happens to be 
weak. The main branches are left at a distance of about 
twenty-two inches apart. As to the state of fruit growing 
about here, it is still in want of much improvement. It is 
not easy, as M. Morel remarked, to get a new idea into the 
heads of the humbler classes of people; but a considerable 
advance has been made during the past generation. Thirty 
years ago, said M. Morel, a small Pear, of moderate 
quality, was sold for three sous — now it is worth about one. 
This good result has been brought about by the populariza- 
tion of really good varieties. 

I was much disappointed in the departmental school of 
fruit culture here. The aspect on entering was most doleful, 
and the walls in some places wretchedly covered. This, 
however, was explained by the fact that ver blanc had nearly 
destroyed the garden. This is a pest which we are spared 
in England, and of its destructive nature English cultivators 
can have no idea. Some Peaches against the walls looked 
veiy well, but many had perished from the ravages of the 
dreaded grub, as had numbers of Pears, Apples, and all 
sorts of fruit trees. I learnt nothing in this garden, but 
from its upper part the beautifully diversified nature of the 
environs of Lyons may be seen, everywhere dotted by well- 
built villas, and in the distance a ruined arch — one of the 
many traces of the great aqueduct constructed by the Romans 
to convey water to the city from the distant mountains. 
Hereabouts are also traces of the great Roman roads which 
radiated from hence to the Pyrenees, the Rhine, the Atlantic, 
and Marseilles. What a mighty gi^asp these old Romans 
had of the world ! The efi'orts of modern conquerors seem 
puny compared to those of the civilizers of the olden 
time. 

L^EcoLE Regionale de la Saxjlsaie. — There are many 



l'ecole regionale de la saulsaie. 605 



small departmental schools established with, a yiew to spread 
a knowledge of rural pursuits in France — this is one of a 
few establishments with a more extended aim. It is si- 
tuated in the department of Ain_, a couple of hours^ journey 
hj rail and carriage from Lyons,, and is principally an ex- 
tensive school of agriculture. M. Yerrier, after whom the 
form of tree known as the Palmette Verrier was named by 
Professor Du Breuil, was chief of the fruit-growing depart- 
ment j but at the time of my -vdsit he had been dead for 
more than a year. The first sight of this^ and indeed most 
similar places in France, is not assuring ; there is a want of 
the finish which we Britons are in the habit of putting on 
country seats, farms, and gardens, and, if I may so speak, a 
hungry look about the place. However, a garden is to me 
interesting and worthy of notice according to what it teaches 
or suggests, and, as great men have not been above accepting 
lessons from very humble ones, we must not conclude that 
because a place, from want of funds or other causes, is not 
so perfect as we had been led to expect, that it is therefore 
unworthy of inspection. 

The first thing observable in the fruit garden was an 
almost total failure of the Pear crop — cold rains at the time 
of fiowering had accomplished it. What a "paradisiacal 
climate The situation here is somewhat elevated, and 
thoroughly exposed, in consequence of being flat and not 
surrounded by sheltering woods or forests, and, although 
much further south than Paris, there can be little doubt 
that many parts of England are far more favourable to the 
production of fruit. Apples were a better crop, but they 
too, strange to say, were a failure — in consequence of the 
very strong sun. In any case, they had fallen off to a great 
extent. The original specimens of the Palmette Yerrier are 
to be seen here, and very fine some of them are. A marked 
diff'erence existed between the Easter Beurre Pear against 
walls and the same variety grown away from their shelter and 
protection. Away from the wall and without protection the 
trees were a total failure, or in cases where they bore fruit 
it was diseased and useless. Against walls, where the trees 
had been efficiently protected in spring, the trees and fruit 



606 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



were in perfect condition. This speaks for itself, and tells 
us J with many other things I have seen in FrancCj that it is 
to well-managed walls we mnst look for the main improve- 
ments in the culture of our finer fruits. Here the French 
actually find that walls are not only a benefit but a necessity 
for some hardy fruits^, yet we have been going on for years 
planting Pears in quantities away from walls^ and paying 
little proportionate attention to the kinds that ought to be 
planted against them. 

As the place is very much exposed to storms, peculiar 
expedients have been resorted to^ so as to secm-e the trees 
against their influence. The practice of training trees with 
the branches crossed and intertwined by way of mutual 
support, was to be seen here in a large way, both in the 
case of Apples and Pears. Cheap laths and sticks are first 
used to train the trees into shape, and after they have 
attained their full size, crossing and supporting each other, 
the other supports are removed or allowed to rot. There 
were many Apple trees trained on this principle, and so well 
and firmly that there could be no doubt whatever that it is 
perfectly practicable and good, and that the objections which 
have been urged against it were entirely groundless. It 
was said by some that the branches would destroy each other 
by friction ; there was ample evidence here that this was 
not the case, even with the strong winds that are nearly 
always blowing. When I mentioned the objection to the 
chief he was much amused, and simply pointed to a fine 
line of Apple trees, eight feet high, mutually supporting 
each other without the slightest injury. It is thus clear 
that we may not only much improve the appearance of 
our espaliers by adopting the system which I have 
figured and described elsewhere, but make the trees self- 
supporting. Better formed or more presentable espaliers 
than these could not be seen, and, as they were well inter- 
laced one with the other, the strong wind blowing on one 
of the first days of July did not afi'ect them in the 
least. 

In the case of very large pyramids planted here, another 
expedient to protect them from the wind was adopted. As 



L ECOLE REGIONALE DE LA SAULSAIE. 



607 



is not uufrequently the case in French fruit gardens^ the 
branches of the pyramids are brought regularly in straight 
lines from the bole of the tree — that is^ the branches form 
four, five, or six wings, as the case may be ; five is perhaps 
the most usual number. In the case I am describing there 
are four wings to each pyramid ; but the branches, instead 
of being stopped, as is usually the case, are trained in 
straight lines from one pyramid to the other, so that they 
cross each other, forming a wall of trellis work, an opening 
being left at the bottom under which one may pass. In 
one spot there were regular little squares formed thus 
between every four trees — ^in fact, a green wall of from 
twelve to fourteen feet high enclosed the visitor. I never 
met with this elsewhere, and it was very well done. 

An expedient to give additional support and strength to 
the espaliers was, when employing the double trellis, to 
let the two sides meet at top and lean against each other — 
thus, — ^instead of placing them vertically, as is the custom. 
A line of trees trained in the vase form were united one 
with the other by a strong arched branch, the branch 
springing from the top of the vase ; and this simply because 
the place is open to fierce winds, which would render 
such exposed trees insecure without some support. I 
question if any garden could afi'ord a better test of the 
effect of wind on trained trees. Some that were standing 
singly looked like very neat summer-houses. They were 
pyramids, with the branches brought out from the main 
stem in six lines, the branches in each line being of course 
placed exactly one above the other. Trees are trained 
thus so that the air and light may fully benefit all parts of 
them. The character of a pretty bower was imparted to 
the space between every two wings of the tree by simply 
carrying an arched branch from wing to wing overhead. 

There is here a very well- furnished Peach wall, made of 
common earth firmly pressed between boards in the making, 
and with a foundation of rough stones to prevent the hu- 
midity sapping the base. This kind of wall is good enough 
for its object, will last for ages if well made, and may be 
coated and coped so as to look as ornamental as any other. 



608 



^sOTES or A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



It is even cheaper than the system of concrete wall- 
building elsewhere alluded to. About Lyons I saw miles 
of wall built in this way^ and numerous houses as well, 
and I am certain that it can be employed with advantage 
in growing fruit for the market, and for private use. The 
earth must be well battered down between boards, and 
it should not be either too sandy or clayey. The 
coping here is of tiles, not sloping down on both sides 
of the wall, but running clean from front to back, the 
higher side being reserved for the most important crop. 
Beneath this coping wooden supports, for accommodating 
a neat straw mat in spring, project about twenty inches 
from the wall. This may seem to the English cultivator 
an awkward and untidy mode of protection, but these 
mats are very neatly and cheaply made in France (as has 
been already mentioned), and they are of great use in 
many ways, from placing on the north side of a line of 
espalier trees to covering frames, and making a temporary 
coping for walls. For fr'ames alone their introduction 
would be a benefit to us, as they afford a much better, 
neater, and cheaper protection than bass mats; and as 
these have latterly become so dear, they should prove the 
more acceptable. Espaliers are here occasionally protected 
with the neat straw mats by simply projecting from the 
main support two little stays of iron or wood, which 
carry a rude and cheap span of framework, on which 
the mats are so placed in spring that the wind cannot 
blow them off. In looking at a fine specimen of Beurre 
d^Amanlis here, twenty-eight feet long and eight feet high, 
with three crowns wrought above the general level of the 
espalier, and loaded with fruit, M. Morel, the Peach grower, 
laughingly observed that that kind of tree was not at all a 
good one for the nurseryman; the upright and oblique 
cordons planted against walls, and closer than people plant 
Cabbages, were far better. 

A young plantation of Asparagus here looked somewhat 
like one of Celery. Trenches and plants were so distanced 
that each stool was a yard apart from its fellows in every 
way, and each plant was as carefully staked as if it were a 



DIJOX. 



609 



Dahlia in the garden of a careful amateur of that flower. 
There is a rather well-kept sort of botanical garden here, 
for the purpose of showing native, useful, culinary and 
other herbs, and when passing through this the superinten- 
dent said, pointing at a solitary plant of Rhubarb, " You 
eat that in England V' What a difference a few miles or 
mere accident sometimes makes ! Here is a vegetable 
second to no other, and which a race so distinguished in 
the kitchen should best know how to appreciate, and yet 
it is almost unknown to them ; and what a loss that is, we 
only can understand. There is a School of Dendrology 
here, with the trees planted in their natural orders, and, 
generally speaking, good facilities for teaching young men 
with a taste for rural pursuits. 

Dijon. — The home nursery of Leconte was the only one 
I visited, and a very neat and well-kept one it is. It is an 
oblong piece of ground, about four acres in extent, and 
well walled in on every side, the walls being well coped 
with overlapping tiles. All the space on both sides of the 
walls was planted with oblique cordon Pear trees, trained 
on single galvanized wires, attached to two strong nails in 
the walls. They were young trees, but the walls were very 
nearly covered ; the crop was nothing to speak of. The 
trees, however, are too young to judge much by at present. 
A wall about fifteen feet high was nearly covered with oblique 
cordon Pears, and as they had so much room to rise, the 
position seemed particularly suited to them. Near at hand 
they were grown to the same height by projecting a trellis 
above the garden w^all, so as to form a very high screen of 
cordon Pears above it. This was done by erecting strong 
uprights of iron to the required height above the wall, and 
then running galvanized wires from the bottom of the wall 
to a strong horizontal wire or rod passing from upright to 
upright at the top. Looking along the long side or middle 
walks, cordon Apples could be seen stretching without in- 
terruption from one end of the garden to the other, the 
effect being very pretty indeed. They were planted a few 
inches inside the box edging, and between it and lines of 
handsome pyramidal Pears, conifers, &c., andj as usual, chiefly 

R R 



610 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



to fill up neatly and permanently a space that otherwise 
could not be usefully occupied. They are about three 
years old, supported on the usual slender galvanized wire, 
and in many parts bore a very fair crop, though in others 
they were nearly ruined by thrip. The little Lady Apple 
was particularly fine ; but generally the apples were like 
the pyramidal pears and apples, a failure as regards crop. 
However, of the two the cordons bore the best crop. The 
Pear, as a horizontal cordon, was not so good as the Apple; 
in fact, a failure, as is usually the case. 

Angers. — This famous old town is known almost every- 
where for its vast nursery gardens ; there are, it is said, 
one hundred nurserymen, small and great, in its neighbour- 
hood. It is a fine climate, this of Anjou — so genial as to 
develope the Tea plant in perfect health out of doors, and 
with sun enough to spice the air with the fragrance of that 
splendid evergreen. Magnolia grandiflora, which may be 
seen used as a promenade tree in the Place immediately 
outside the main entrance to the nurseries of M. A. Leroy. 
There are many noble specimens and lines of this plant in 
the nurseries, which are of vast extent — too much so, indeed, 
to permit of one visiting them, unless with plenty of time 
to spare. The Camellia does perfectly well in the open air, 
and is grown to an enormous extent, nearly two acres of 
ground being devoted to the production of young plants, 
25,000 being grafted every year. At the time of my "sdsit 
(July 18), nearly all the beds were shaded from strong sun 
by a thin spray of branches fastened between hurdles. 
Many other things are propagated in great quantity — Pears 
for example. Of one single variety, Easter Bem^e, the 
enormous number of 40,000 plants are annually " worked,^"* 
to use a propagating phrase. Of Duchesse d'Angouleme 
25,000 are yearly required ; of Williams^s Bon Chretien, 
25,000 ; that excellent Pear, Louise Bonne d^Awanches, is 
also required to the extent of 25,000 annually ; and Doyenne 
d^Alen9on to 20,000 plants — so that the number of one 
kind of Pear used is alone sufficient to form a nursery of 
itself. Observe the enormous number of Easter Beurre 
(Doyenne d^Hiver) required. This is the Pear which we 



ANGERS. 



611 



import in sucli vast quantities from France in winter. In 
tlie region around Paris this kind must be grown against 
sunny walls. I need not add tliat it is folly to attempt its 
culture in any other fashion in England. 

For three weeks before the date of my visit fifty work- 
men had been employed in budding here. The fruit trees 
are budded as we bud Roses^ and those in which the 
buds fail are grafted in spring. In this way a year is 
gained. There is a splendid collection of pyramid trees 
grafted on the Quince stocky many of them of great size 
and perfect symmetry, the ground being rich and deep, and 
suiting the Quince to perfection. Every kind of fruit sold 
or recognised as a variety of any merit is grown here ; 
Pears to the amazing number of one thousand and twenty- 
eight varieties ; Vines, five hundred and fifty distinct varie- 
ties ; Apples, eight hundred ditto ; Peaches, two hundred 
and fifty, including forty-five of the best American kinds ; 
and so on. The Apple is planted to a considerable extent 
as a horizontal cordon, and many varieties bear abundance 
of fruit, some of the finer Russian kinds being gathered 
before the date of my visit, 18th of July, 1868. The 
following varieties were bearing abundantly as cordons : 
Joanneting,Astrakan, Winter Pearmain, Archduchess Sophia, 
Court Pendu Plat, President Dufoy, several kinds of Reinette, 
several kinds of Calville, Transparent, and many others. It 
is scarcely necessary to enumerate kinds, as nearly every 
first-rate variety does well when trained in this way and 
grafted on the true French Paradise stock. 

Of the 450 acres of nursery ground in M. A. Leroy^s 
establishment much is devoted to the culture of Conifers 
and ornamental trees and shrubs, the peculiar feature of 
the culture being that the Conifers when young are grown 
in pots, for the sake of securing safe transport. The pots 
are all plunged in the earth, and when the plants become 
large they are placed in rough baskets and plunged in the 
same manner. This is a better preparation than that of the 
pot, secures safe carriage, and does not cause contortion of 
the roots as pots do. These baskets are made in quantity by 

R R 2 



612 



NOTES or A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



the firm ; were it not so, the expense would prove too great 
to admit of this mode of culture. 

There is a specimen of Cedrus atlantica_, about thii'ty 
feet high^ a graceful open tree^ quite silvery^ and dotted all 
over with little nipple-like male cones — one solitary and 
large female cone standing alone amongst them. It is 
found to grow very much faster than the Cedar of Lebanon 
in these grounds^ and is so beautiful as to recommend itself 
to every lover of Conifers. Some plants grown indoors in 
England do very well here out of doors — Poinciana Gilliesi 
and Lagerstroemia indica being particularly beautiful in 
July. Bambusa mitis grows very freely^ and has here 
proved the best of the hardy Bamboos. The culture of 
fruit trees against walls is far from satisfactory. It would 
appear that the fine climate affords an excuse for careless- 
ness in this respect ; but I made slight efforts to see 
the fruit culture of the district,, as the climate is so unlike 
our own that observations made in it are not at all so 
applicable to our own culture as those gathered in the colder 
parts of France. 

The public garden here is a purely scientific institution^ 
directed by M. Boreau^ a botanist well known for his 
knowledge of European plants. He is particularly fond 
of the wild French Roses^ and described one of his own 
finding (R. conspicua) as the most beautiful and showy 
of all the wild Roses. Another interesting native plant 
was an unusually large and \'igorous Solomon''s Seal^ named 
Polygonum intermedium — a subject that would repay culti- 
vation. St. Dabeoc^s Heathy found in Connemara^ in Ire- 
landj occurs in a wood about fifteen miles from this city. 

The nurseries of M. Louis Leroy^ in the Route de Paris, 
are also very extensive^ though most of his ground is at a 
considerable distance from the town. The standard Mag- 
nolias in this nursery are excellent, and a singular graceful 
Conifer (Taxodium sinensis) claims attention from its novelty. 
A specimen of Wellingtonia here, only eleven years of 
age, is superb — twenty-five feet high, and a noble tree in 
every respect. There is a small public fruit garden in the 
town, quite recently planted, and promising to be useful 



NANTES. 



613 



in the future. Here, again, the horizontal cordons were in 
good bearing, though scarcely more than a year old. 

I was much indebted to M. Anatole Leroy, of the nur- 
series in the Route de Paris, for his valuable assistance in 
enabling me conveniently to see the horticulture of this 
neighbourhood, on the interest of which I have barely 
touched. 

Nantes. — The Jardin des Plantes here is quite a change 
from what we are accustomed to see in French towns, and 
is well worthy of a ^dsit and of imitation. It is a beautiful 
garden, in the highest sense, while it is instructive at the 
same time, and quite a credit to the town for the way in 
which it is kept. It is distinguished from the old style of 
French public garden by the almost total absence of straight 
lines, being varied in all its parts, and well and tastefully 
planted on that style for which the best name is the 
natural.-''' It is embellished by one of the finest groves 
of standard Magnolias (grandiflora) in Europe, if not the 
finest, and their noble flowers perfume the whole place. 
The planting is very tastefully done on the grouping system, 
while along some of the walks alternate beds of Camellias 
and Azaleas are placed, each bed being edged with Hepa- 
ticas. The grass was as green and as freely dotted with 
daisies as could be desired — the London parks at the same 
date being as brown and parched as the desert. This 
results from the excellent system of watering everywhere 
adopted in French gardens. Fine-leaved plants, Cannas, 
Uicinus, and the like, are abundantly used, and eff'ect a 
noble improvement, as they everywhere do. 

A particularly noticeable feature in the garden at Nantes 
is the way the rockwork is managed. It is not suitable for 
true rock plants, nor capable of being embellished by them, 
but its artistic effect is good, because natural, and there is a 
good deal of it. The principle adopted is that of letting 
the rock suggest itself, rather than piling it up in wall-like 
masses ; solitary rocks peep out of the grass here and there 
by the margin of the water, and presently a group appears, 
the whole being intertwined by creeping and trailing shrubs 
in a way agreeable to the eye of taste. The water is not 



614 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



SO well managed^ being rather formal and serpentine,, not 
following the trne line of the brook or rivnlet ; but this 
fault is not so perceptible here as in other French gardens. 
The quality that we know of as breadth — that which we miss 
so much at Kew and many other fine gardens^ and see so 
well exemplified in others of much smaller dimensions — is 
finely shown in this garden^ the eye resting on wide green 
sweeps of grassj margined by varied and receding outlines 
afforded by trees^ shrubs^ and flowers. Cercis australis 
forms a very ornamental tree in these grounds^ the long 
shoots drooping gracefully. There is a small fruit gar- 
den and a small but useful botanic garden^ both wisely 
and effectively cut off from the general scene^ and not 
thrust under the eye of the public, to weary it with the 
sight of a scientific arrangement of plants, which is as un- 
natural and ugly to the human eye as anything can well be. 
Where you plant like subjects together, it is almost impossible 
to have any of the freshness or variety of a true garden. 

E-ouEN. — This district is so near home, and its climate 
so very much like our own, that even those possessed of the 
erroneous idea that the climate of northern France is a para- 
disiacal one will admit the utility of studying the culture. 
I first Adsited the nursery of Mr. J. Wood, an English 
nurseryman, established here forty years. Speaking of 
fruit-growing in France and England, these were his 
words : " For every single fruit tree sold in England there 
are one thousand sold in France ! Every cottager with 
ten square yards of ground buys and plants fruit trees. If 
it were not so you would not get so much French fruit in 
England.^'' Generally, he said, the culture of wall fruit was 
carelessly performed in that region, with the exception of 
the Pear. Fine old specimens of Pears against the walls 
of chateaux afforded quantities of good fruit. Some of the 
walls here were covered with Pear cordons trained dia- 
gonally. In reply to a query as to the merits of this 
particular phase of the cordon system, Mr. Wood remarked. 
It has been a good thing for the nurserymen.'''' Precisely. 
As a tree must be planted at every eighteen inches or so, it 
is a very expensive proceeding ; but a " good thing for nur- 



ROUEN. 



615 



serymen/'' of course. Alpine Strawberries are grown here 
in considerable quantity^ and preferred to tbe common kind. 
By covering the gi'onnd with a little short manure to pre- 
vent evaporation^ and giving abundance of water in dry 
weather^ they get them to fruit from early summer to late 
autumn,, gathering plenty of fruit all through this prolonged 
season. TMien gathered fresh from the plants^ and used 
with the usual accompaniments^ the best varieties of the 
Quatre Saisons are certainly excellent. They are insuffi- 
ciently known in England;, where they ought to be very 
extensively grown, as the climate is even more suitable to 
them than that of France, and they w^ould form a very 
agreeable addition to the dessert at all times, especially 
when the other strawberries are past. 

In the market here specimens of the Reinette Grise, an 
excellent apple, were selling in June at three and four sous 
each ; they were perfectly firm, and the flavour of the best. 
Considering how valuable is an apple that keeps in the con- 
dition described to the month of June, we need scarcely say 
that this deserves to be widely known in England. It 
is weU suited for culture on the cordon system. A 
peculiarity in the mode of growing young Camellias and 
Azaleas deserves notice. The spring after being grafted 
they are planted out in pits or frames in light peaty earth, 
and the result is that they form presentable specimens in 
half the time that is usually required when they are grown 
in pots. But they are all destined for pots, and this course 
is pursued simply to get them ready in quick time. They 
grow so fast that after six months they must be taken up 
and replanted at greater distances apart. This phase of the 
culture chiefly concerns the propagator and nurseryman ; 
but when large plants become shabby from having been in 
dwelling rooms or any other cause, they are cut down and 
planted out in the pits in the same way, the result being 
that they soon return to a perfectly healthy and vigorous 
state, and may, after a year or so, be again placed in pots 
or tubs. This hint should be useful to amateurs whose 
specimens are so frequently in that state when it becomes 
doubtful whether they should be thrown away or kept. 



616 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



As at Paris^ great numbers of Dracaenas and fine foliage 
plants generally are grown here. These also are at first 
planted out in frames and pits^ in very light rich soil, and 
thus grown into healthy little specimens before being potted 
and used for furnishing. Weak and puny little plants put out 
in spring become nice stocky specimens in autumn, and are 
then taken up, potted, and placed on a gentle hotbed, where 
they soon root vigorously into the pots. It needs very little 
discernment to see the reason why things do so well planted 
out thus. They are not liable to the vicissitudes which 
things sufier in pots ; they grow from a moist surface, 
which, as every plant-grower knows, is so congenial to the 
health of plants ; and, to put it simply, they are under 
much more natural conditions than plants confined in 
pots. 

Epiphyllum truncatum is grown here in quantity and 
variety, there being a dozen kinds. As many know, this 
is a first-rate plant for winter decoration. On its own 
roots it pushes but little ; grafted on the Periskea it makes 
the free-flowering and vigorous plants which we sometimes 
see in England, and which are becoming every day more 
popular. Here, however, they employ, in preference to the 
spiny and slender woody stem of the Periskea, a species of 
Cereus, wdth a thick roundish stem, which forms a worthy 
pillar for the rich head of shoots this beautiful winter- 
flowering Cactus makes upon it. This stock should be used 
generally in England for this purpose. The Epiphyllums 
were tried upon Opuntias, but without success, the only kind 
that would grow upon them being E. Ruckerianum. 

Of the public gardening at Rouen, that which pleased me 
best was a very small bit which formed a setting, so to 
speak, to the statue to Pierre Corneille. It is placed half 
way over the bridge, where that structure rests on the island 
in the Seine. A space on a level with the bridge, like a 
huge recess, is adorned with the statue. Around the stony 
base on which it rests runs a border of glistening Irish Ivy, 
elevated on a little plateau above the small lawn. The 
fi^rass is bordered by a line of dwarf bushy Roses, springing 
from a band of the same " ould Irish Ivy ; behind all 



ROUEN. 



617 



Fig. 356. 



there is a belt of shrubs^ and around all a gravel walk^ the 
little space being kept private. There were four large vases 
in itj each containing a fine specimen of the New Zealand 
Flax_, but it is possible they had been placed here specially 
for the Emperor''s visit. In any case, this mere spot^ half- 
way over a bridge^ looked 
one of the sweetest bits of 
town gardening I have seen. 

In the Botanic Gardens 
at Rouen the first things 
encountered were some of 
those enormous and un- 
meaning masses of Cannas^ 
Tagetes_, &c._, which the 
French sometimes make 
even larger and more hideous 
than we do. There is^ how- 
ever_, a neat fruit garden and 
a good specimen of what 
they call a school of botany 
— i.e., an arrangement of 
hardy plants scientifically 
named and arranged. It is 
only fair to say that the 
plants are kept more dis- 
tinct and well named in 
those divisions of French 
public gardens than is the 
case in Britain^ where they 
are too often allowed to 

grow wild through each Pear Tree with the branches trained in 
Other. Sabal Adansoni is Hnes exactly above each other, and all 

the points united by graiting. 

placed in the open air here 

for the summer, and seems a palm of such rigid and 
leathery texture that it should do for general use in 
that way. The fruit garden contains a good many of what 
are called model trees, and many cordons ; but on the whole, 
while there is much that is curious, and this division is well 
kept, it really affords little instruction. Specimens in the U 




618 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



form abound. The only noticeable feature was a trifling one 
— placing willow wands in the exact bend and direction in 
which it is desired to conduct the chief branches. That once 
done,, little remains but to tie the young shoots in the desired 
direction. A great deal of the fruit had fallen^ in consequence 
of the extreme heat^ and of the soil being sandy. There 
was one pretty good specimen of a winged pyramid — i.e., a 
pyramid having the branches trained in five vertical lines, 
and with the points united by grafting, as in Fig. 356.- 

Wide edgings of Iyj are used as a margin to the Bose 
beds, and with a very good effect. The rustic iron edgings, 
so much used about Paris, are also employed here. Native 
Orchids are grown in the botanical division, among them 
the Lizard and others that are rare with us. The common 
and the Irish forms of the Ivy are placed 
YiG. 357. nnder exactly similar circumstances, a por- 
tion of each lying flat upon the ground, and 
another being conducted up a stake. The 
decided superiority of the Irish kind can 
be seen at a glance. It is not without 
reason they have selected it for the public 
^ gardens of Paris. The better kinds of 

figure. ^ herbaceous Pseonies were planted in the 
grass at about a yard or so from the 
margin of the shrubberies — a good position for them, 
and when they decay no blank space is left. The hardy 
Irises are grown in vases — a plan worth pursuing where 
early summer gardening is practised, but they should 
be in all cases associated with and springing from dwarfer 
plants. The contents of the houses here were perfect^ 
miserable. The ground was almost covered in some parts 
with the dead bodies of cockchafers, and along one part 
of the railroad near Rouen I noticed a wood nearly a mile 
long quite stripped of leaves by this pest. Not long before, 
I had thought, in passing through a rich, green, and well- 
wooded valley, what a transformation it would be if we 
could see the trees suddenly stripped of their summer robes 
and made to stand bare as in winter ; and here it was with 
a vengeance. It is no exaggeration to state that many 




TROYES. 



619 



great toTrering Lombardy Poplars^ Oaks_, and Bii'clies_, were 
stripped as bare as if it bad been a December instead of 
a June morning. 

The new garden in the centre of the town; named after 
SolferinO; is very pretty^ the trees being apparently well 
estabHsbed; tbougb it bas been made only five or six years. 
Tbis is in consequence of tbe excellent macbinery for 
remo\ing large trees wbicb is now in use in most large 
Frencb towns. Tbe garden is embellisbed by a small piece 
of water and a really well-constructed seam of rockwork. 
A few boulders peep from tbe turf on one side of tbe water_y 
and on tbe ofP-side tbe bigb rocky bank seems to bave been 
worn away by time and water^ every trace of art being- 
concealed by trailing Ivy and Evergreens. Tbe beds of 
Hoses in tbis garden were covered with green moss gathered 
from neighbouring woods. It adds a good deal to tbe 
appearance of the beds, and by keeping them moist of 
course prolongs and improves the bloom. 

Troyes. — This old and interesting town, from which Troy 
weight takes its name^ is interesting to the horticulturist 
and fruit-grower from the Brothers Baltet having extensive 
nurseries in and near it. The home nursery which is 
situated in the town, is extensive and rich in advanced spe- 
cimens of pyramidal and other Pear trees. Soon after enter- 
ing, horizontal cordons are seen in large numbers running 
along the back of the borders which margin the sides of 
the central walk, these borders being occupied by flowering 
plants. The cordons form a neat finish at the back, and 
bear a plentiful crop of fruit, though they are not established 
trees such as one sees in a private garden, but on the other 
hand subject to the transplantings, sales, &c., to which 
nursery stock is liable. In addition to those in this position, 
horizontal cordons were seen in many parts, and, where 
established, bearing wonderfully well. Thus the Lady Apple, 
well established on the Doucin stock, bore fruit almost as 
thick as the pretty little Apples could sit on a cordon not 
closely pinched in ; but on tbe Doucin tbe shoots grew too 
vigorously, and did not preserve that compact appearance 
and habit which is so desirable in these trees. If the soil were 



620 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



very poor and liglit and dry^ tlie tendency to over vigour would 
be repressed^ and tlie Doucin prove tlie most desirable stock. 

What a happy thing it is that stocks which possess 
such admirable qualities are known and easily procured ! 
Your soil is rich deep loam_, wet_, cold_, or stiff. Use the 
French Paradise, and you obtain large and beautiful fruit. 
But plant the same on a very poor, dry, hungry, or cal- 
careous soil, and it is almost useless. But then we have the 
Doucin, which suits the poor soils to perfection, to fall back 
upon, and thus the best results may be produced on soils of 
very diverse and even very bad qualities. I measured some 
of the larger Apples here, and found that many were as 
much as ten, eleven, and eleven and a half inches in cir- 
cumference on the morning of the 13th of July, though 
they were still green and swelling, and not to be gathered 
till October. Spring frosts occur here frequently, and my 
guide mentioned the absence of frost during the month of 
May of the past year as a very extraordinary occurrence. 
Here, as in every garden, the cultivator remarks, the cordons 
" are good and take up little space.'''' Of course, in a large 
public nursery like this, little lines of trees under the eye 
of numerous daily visitors, who may at times buy such of 
them as they fancy, cannot be exhibited in the perfect state 
I have seen them in private gardens ; besides, a number of 
kinds are planted, and not those known to be best worth 
growing, and yet sufficient proof of the excellence of the 
system was here afforded. 

The Pear was not growing as a cordon, although the 
Apple was so abundantly grown in that way, the Pear being 
considered unsuitable ; and this I am strongly inclined to 
think is the case, from having observed the results of nu- 
merous plantations of horizontal cordon Pears. I have, 
however, known excellent crops to be gathered off Louise 
Bonne trained thus, and doubt not that a small and choice 
selection would be worthy of planting, especially where they 
could be safely protected in spring. One of the first things 
that meet the eye of the ^dsitor is a nice crop of Beurre 
Clairgeau on a hedge formed of that variety. Several similar 
hedges are formed beside it, and arranged rather closely 



TROYES. 



621 



together^ so that plants may be placed between tbem for 
the sake of shade. As clipped hedges of arbor vitse are fre- 
quently employed in France for giving shade in summer, it 
need scarcely be remarked that the substitution of hedges 
of good varieties of Pears would be an improvement. Of 
'course the thing could be done in England as well as here. 
At first stakes are used to support the trees, and indeed, 
some must be employed till they have attained their perfect 
development ; but afterwards, if properly trained, they will 
support each other perfectly, and they may be pruned and 
kept to look as neatly as if supported by a costly trellis. 
Alongside one of the main walks a young specimen of a 

Fig. 358. 




Name formed by Pear Trees. 



very carefully and neatly made curtain of this kind may be 
seen. These hedges bear as freely and well as any other 
form of Pear tree whatever. The Beurre Clairgeau line was 
worked on Quince and Pear stocks alternately. The trees 
on the Quince were little better than dead ; those on the 
Pear were fine, full of fruit, showing in a marked manner 
that the variety requires the Pear stock. There are several 
curious attempts at forming the proprietors^ names with 
trees, and away from walls too, in this nursery, one 
of which is here figured. There are, so far as I could 
learn, no large gardens devoted to fruit culture in the 
neighbourhood, but multitudes of small proprietors, with 



622 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



Fig. 359. 



specimens of good varieties in their gardens : many of 
these send their surplus fruit to market^ and the same is the 
€ase over a large part of France. 

If the Pear grafted on the Quince is planted in ground dry 

and not fertile, the tree 
pushes with Little vigour 
and often makes hardly 
any progress. It is apt to 
carry when very young a 
superabundant quantity 
of fruit which soon ex- 
hausts it, and it will live 
but few years. This im- 
poverishment maybe pre- 
vented by liberating 
the tree and by causing it 




to grow on its own roots 



Mode of inducing a stan-ed Pear on the 
Quince Stock to emit its own roots. B, 
Outline of mound of earth. 

— a practice much recom- 
mended by M. Baltet. Tlie process is as follows : — In spring 
from thi'ee to six vertical incisions are made a little above 
the junction of scion and stock, as herein represented, and 
about an inch or so long, and deep enough to slightly 
penetrate beyond the bark and slightly into the wood of 
the tree. Afterwards a 
little heap of light and 
rich soil is raised around 
the stem suflQciently to 
cover up the incisions. 
It is then made pretty 
firm and covered with 
a couple of inches of 



Fig. 360. 



to 



as 
getting 




Result of the operation. 



old dung, so 
preserve it from 
dried up by very warm 
weather. Roots will 

quickly descend, and the tree will soon attain fresh vigour' 
on its own roots, and become quite independent of the 
Quince. The old root and its influences will disappear in 
course of time. As the union of stock and scion is usuallv 



BOURG-LA-REINE. 



623 



placed a little above the surface^ and as the new crop of 
roots given off by the Pear will enter the ground from this 
position, it need hardly be said that the surface must be 
gradually raised towards the base of the tree by means of 
suitable turfy loam, so as to encourage the new roots. 
Considering the inconsiderate way that the Quince has 
been recommended for all soils, this mode should prove 
useful. 

In another part of the town the Ecole Normale of the 
department has a garden behind it for the purpose of 
teaching the pupils fruit culture. Here double or super- 
imposed cordons of the Lady Apple bore fruit in great 
abundance. The walls were made of the dried stems of the 
common Keed, nailed between rough and cheap wooden 
framework, the mass of stems being about two inches thick. 
A flat board nailed along the top at about seven feet from 
the ground, afforded about eight inches of coping. The wall 
of the school for about four feet from the ground was very 
neatly covered with dwarf Peach trees which bore a fair 
crop, and neatly covered a space generally left naked. 

Boukg-la-Eeixe. — The very extensive nurseries of Jamin 
and Durand in this neighbourhood are full of interest to 
the fruit-grower. In addition to the nursery proper there 
are two fruit gardens — one belonging to M. Durand and 
the other to M. Jamin, both recently formed, and likely to 
prove of much interest to the fruit-grower by and by. 
Many Prench nurserymen have in addition to the 
ground devoted to the raising and training of young 
trees a private garden or " school '''' of fruit culture, in 
which the various kinds may be seen in a developed 
state. The garden recently established by M. F. Jamin 
has been well walled in, the walls of stone having a 
coping of overlapping tiles, which project about nine 
inches. This is, perhaps, as cheap and good a coping 
as any in use, and its effect is neat, much more so than 
that of other tile copings employed here. The walls are 
all wired closely and effectively with the galvanized wire 
and the raidisseur. The walls with the warmest and best 
aspects are planted with Peaches and winter Pears, and 



624 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



herein is an instructive lesson. While continually talk- 
ing of the fine climate of France, we have been going on for 
years taking little interest in wall Pear culture, but planting 
pyramids everywhere, and thus we have practically come 
to be without a stock of the finer winter Pears, and com- 
pelled to import enormous quantities of them from France 
at high prices. 

Here I found a most experienced fruit-grower — one 
who has also lived in good fruit-growing establishments in 
England — who said emphatically that it is absolutely useless 
to attempt the culture of the finer winter Pears, the most 
valuable of all, away from walls, and that it is neces- 
sary to place such kinds as the Easter Beurre against 
well-coped walls with a southern exposure, the soil being 
of the finest description and the climate that of Paris. Of 
course he could grow some of them in the open, but 
then they would be uncertain and worthless ; and he gives 
an instance — Beurre Ranee, which is first-rate against 
walls. The collection of winter Pears had only been planted 
a short time, and yet the crop was very good, every 
young tree bearing as much as one could desire to see 
upon it. It is finally intended that these Pear trees shall 
assume the form known as the Palmette Verrier ; but at 
present the branches are trained diagonally — another in- 
stance of the excellent practice of allowing branches that 
are finally to assume the horizontal position to grow first 
in an ascending direction, so that they may be furnished 
and formed with less trouble and in a shorter time, the sap 
rising much more freely and naturally in young branches 
that ascend obliquely than when they run in an exactly 
horizontal direction. When the outer ones are long and 
old enough to form the bend, and have their points directed 
towards the top of the wall, then the current of sap is 
drawn through as well as could be desired. Beurre Diel 
is also planted against walls here — not that it may not be 
grown in the open air, but its flowers are very liable to 
be injured by frost in spring, and therefore it is placed on 
a wall to secure a crop. 

The mode of fixing the horizontal cordon here is the 



BOURG-LA-REINE. 



625 



most permanent if not the cheapest I have seen. Figure 
155^ p. 354_, renders a description unnecessary. Several 
hundred feet of wire may be placed between two of these 
supports with the greatest advantage, and nothing can look 
neater. The appearance of the horizontal cordon is very 
much improved by this mode of arranging it, which is 
to be preferred to that of using wooden posts. The 
trainer remarked that any required length of wire 
might be supported between two of these supports, 
^^even five hundred or six hundred feet.^^ For short 
distances it would not be necessary to have such strong 
supports. 

In this same garden the plan of adopting three rising 
shoots from one base, instead of the cordon system, has 
been carried oat. It is applied to the Apricot and the 
Peachj one kind being worked on each ascending branch, 
and three kinds borne by one root. There was no indica- 
tion of a disposition on the part of any of the trios thus 
united not to grow agreeably together ; indeed, they were 
as equally balanced and healthy as could be wished. 
Where it is desired, by nurserymen or private growers, 
to have a goodly number of varieties in a restricted 
space, this is proved here to be the best plan of all. 
Western and southern walls require more protection 
and wider copings than those with northern and eastern 
aspects, the abundant rains being more dreaded than 
the frost, and the western walls here have several inches 
more coping than the eastern. It seems odd that culti- 
vators living in such a perfect climate should take more 
precautions against cold rains than we do in these watery 
islands ! 

Durand^s garden contains a collection of the choicest 
grapes grown in France, and though quite recently formed, 
already contains promising trees of many kinds. This 
plan of devoting a special garden to fully formed fruit 
trees is worthy of imitation by our nurserymen. I am 
particularly indebted to M. Durand for valuable assistance 
in seeing the gardens of the neighbourhood — those below 
ground as well as on the surface — for we descended to- 

s s 



626 NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 

Fig. 361. 



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UortK . 



Plan of Fruit Garden for the Nortli of France, designed by M. J. Durand, 

of Bourg-la-Reine, 150 yards long and 80 broad. 
References to Plan. — A, Cisterns for water supply. B, South wall ^rith 
Peach trees trained in the fan, palmette, and candelabrum forms. C, Espaliers 
of Pears in the palmette form, the trees at eighteen feet apart. D, Lines of 
Apples trained as horizontal cordons, planted twelve feet asunder and a few inches 



BOURG-LA-REINE. 



6:27 



getter into coalpit-like cares to see the muslirooin culture. 




Pear Tree shown at tlie Paris Exposition of 1367, by M. Croux, of Sceaux. 
All the points of the tranches have been united by grafting. 

Ou rQentioning to M. Durand my iivisli to have a plan of 
-\yliat lie would consider a good example of a fruit gar- 

-»vithin the margin of the beds. E, Pear trees in the columnar form, planted 
at ten feet apart. F, North "svall with Cherry trees, planted at about sixteen feet 
apart. G, Bush Apples on the Paradise stock, planted at six feet apart. H, 
East wall with winter Pears such as Easter Beurre, Crassane, and St. Germain. 
I. South wall of Peach trees with five erect branches, planted eight feet asunder. 
J, North wall with Cherries in the palmette form, planted about sixteen feet 
apart . K, West wall of summer and autumn Pears, L L, Interior walls of the 
crarden, M. Pyramidal Pears planted at twenty feet apart. N, East wall with 
Apricots — horizontally trained trees planted twenty feet apart. 0, West wall 
with Plums, planted at twenty feet apart. P, Gooseberries. Q, Currants. E, 
Piaspberries. S, Boundary trellis, which may be covered with Vines, or Pears 
if in a cold climate. 

s s 2 



628 NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



den in Northern France^ he was so good as to design 
one specially for me^ and I have mnch pleasure in giving 
it here. 

ScEAUX. — In the same neighbourhood are nurseries be- 
longing to M. Croux^ and a very good school of fruit culture 
apart from the large home nursery. It is nearly two acres 
and a half in extent and established about six years. 
Many of the trees are trained into very curious forms. The 
cordons here have grown too strongly^ and every second 
stem is severed. They had of course been previously firmly 
grafted one to the other. Cydonia sinensis against walls 
has fruit a foot long in favourable seasons, but is simply a 
curiosity. Several kinds of Ribes^, including the goose- 
berry, are grafted on the red currant, and there are various 
other curiosities. The remarkable-looking specimen of 
training seen in the preceding illustration was shown by 
M. Croux at the Paris Exposition of 1867, and there 
much admired. The plant nurseries of MM. Thibaut 
and Keteleer in the same neighbourhood are well worth 
seeing. 

Chatillon, Foxtexay aux Eoses. — Visitors to Bourg- 
la-Reine or Sceaux may on the same day 
conveniently visit the garden of M. 
Chardon in this village. The owner is 
an amateur, and has a most interesting 
little garden of fi'uit trees. In addi- 
tion to the common and well-known 
forms, he has many specimens trained 
over walks and bowers, and altogether 
the garden is well worth a call from 
anybody visiting Paris who wishes to 
see what may be done with fruit trees 
by an amateur in his spare hours. 

S uiSNEs (Brie-Comte-Robert) . — The 
nursery of M. Cochet here is an inte- 
resting one for the fruit-grower, and 
the owner is a very popular horticulturist. Apples, on the 
horizontal cordon system, are planted here in large numbers. 



Tig. 363. 




Trellis over walk covered 
with Pear Trees. 



SUISNES. 



629 



in places "wliere before they used to have liig-h box edgings. 
Tliey were among the best cordons I have 
seen in France, some bearing as mnch fruit 
as they seemed able to properly develope ; yet 
M. Cochet considered it a very thin crop, and 
said they frequently have them almost as thick 
as they can stand along the line. This was 



Fig. 364. 




Pear Tree with horizontal branches, becoming shorter 
towards the apex of the tree, and supported by slender 
galvanized wires stretched from a stake at back of the 
tree to pegs or stones in the ground. 



Mode of support- 
ing slake for trees 
trained as shown 
in the preceding 
figure. 



Fig. 366. 



the case in 1867. Several walks are margined here with 
two instead of one line of cordons, the inner line being 
about three inches higher than the 
outer one. Of coui^se many varia- 
tions may be made thus, but I have 
as yet seen nothing to alter my 
opinion that the single line, well 
conducted and rather freely deve- 
loped, is the best of all, though 

.^ ... T . Stakes for fixing the wires 

there are many positions and cir- gi^own in F?o-. 864. 




630 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



cumstances in wliicli two lines, superimposed cordons or other 
modifications, will prove desirable. M. Cocliet lias planted 

almost every good 
variety of apple on 
this principle, and 
finds they all do 
well on it. All are 
grafted on the true 
or French Paradise 
stock. Some of 
his fruit from three 
year old plants vras 
remarkably fine, 
and nothing could 
look prettier than 
the handsome apples 
along the side of 
the walks. Of 
course a much more 
regular and better 

Fig. 368. 




.2 Plan of Espalier in pre- 
^ ceding figure at corner 
of line. 



effect could be obtained by lines of one kind only, and the 
training and pruning of them also would be more likely to be 
performed in the best manner. In nearly all parts of the 



SUISNES. 



631 



garden there was abundant evidence tliat the horizontal 
cordon for Apples is the best improvement effected in open- 
air fruit culture for years. 

A line of Pears 
trained thus may also 
be seen, but it is a 
failui'e, although there 
was a fine crop hang- 
ing on one specimen 
of the Belle Angevine. 
When grown in this 
Avay the Pear usually 
manifests a disposition 
to shoot up " gour- 
mands/'' or shoots very 
like those of Willows, 
from the bend. On 
walls where the sap 
has room to spread_, 
this inconvenience is 
of course not present. 
The young Pear and 
other trees here in 
preparation for wall 
and espalier culture 
are beautifully trained 
in line by means of 
tightly strained galva- 
nized wires. By this 
means trees fit to place 
against walls imme- 
diately, and without a 
leaf or shoot out of 
place, may be picked 
out at any time. A 
good many handsome 

Palmetto and other trees are to be seen, but particu- 
larly remarkable are those trained en fuseau,^^ or in what 
is sometimes called the columnar form. This is simply a 




632 



NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



tree trained to a single stem^ or a vertical cordon^ the top 
being allowed to grow as Mgli as it likes, and thns close 
columns of leaves and fruits are formed as mucli as fifteen 
feet high. Nothing could exceed the fine condition of many 
of these trees^ perfectly laden from top to bottom in many 
cases^ and in many more bending arched to the ground with 
the weight of their fruit. They were not staked^ but when 
they are grown in a regular fruit garden it is the custom to 
securely connect them near the top by a line of wire, so that 
they cannot bend down with the weight of the fruit. Their 
advantages are that fruit and leaves enjoy abundance of sun 
and air. The fruit is said to be better flavoured than from 



Fjg. 370. 




Portion of Self-supporting espalier of Pear Trees, formed of horizontal and verti- 
cally trained trees, the points of the horizontally trained tree grafted by 
approach to the onter branches only of the vertical ones. 

the Pyramid tree, in which there is usually a good deal of 
shade,, while they are perhaps the easiest of all forms to 
conduct^ and a great many kinds may be grown on a small 
space. Their drawback appears to be the great height to 
which they attain ; pruning, and the gathering of the fi'uit 
are not so facile as is desirable. 

In many French gardens a peculiarly simple and neat way of 
training espalier Pear trees may be seen (see Figs, on p. 629), 
and there were good examples both here and in the next place 
described. It consists of a stout stake for the main trunk of 
the tree, and of wires running from this to stones or pegs 



BRUNOY. 



633 



buried in the ground. That the roots of the tree may not 
be hurt by a large stake^ this is sometimes supported by 
the stem, as shown by Fig. 365. Besides, the support for 
the wires and younger branches is only required towards 
the top of tree; hence another reason for not fixing the 
stake in the ground. It is quite easy to project little 
stakes from the stouter parts to the young growing branch- 
lets of the tree, and thus keep the points perfectly trained 
in the desired direction. On the first of November every 
year, M. Forest, one of the many professors of fruit culture 
in Paris, and a very popular and excellent one, gives and 
illustrates here a lecture, which is attended by from three 



Fig. 371. Fig. 372. 




Espaliers of Pear Trees with the branches grafted by approach. 



to four hundred gardeners from various parts in the neigh- 
bourhood. I may add that about here the best workmen 
are paid 3f. 75c. a day ; others less skilled or less able re- 
ceive a franc or so less. 

Brunoy (Seine et Marne). — There is here a very re- 
markable fruit garden belonging to an amateur, M. Nallet — 
a garden which will repay a visit at any time of the year. 
It is only a few minutes'' walk from Brunoy station, passed 
on the way to Fontainebleau, and within an easy distance 
of Paris. It is an oblong piece of ground, walled in and 
with a straight walk through the centre, bordered by two 
lines of handsome pyramidal trees, cut off from the walk by 



<)34 NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 

long liorizoiital cordons^ lines of tail trellis-^rork running 
at right angles witli the main walk^ and accommodating an 
infinite variety of trees — many fanciful_, and many of the 
hest and most useful forms. Numbers of horizontal 
cordons were in fair bearings but the proprietor complained 
that the crop was one of the worst he ever had. He 
considered that, taking bad years with good, an average 
of ten fruit per yard run of each line might be cal- 
culated upon. The cordons are never protected, and, here 
as elsewhere, furnish numerous places almost useless, and 
which would otherwise not be occupied at all. It is 

utterly impossible to give the 
reader an idea of the variety 
of form to be seen in the fruit 
trees, therefore we will confine 
ourselves to the most remarkable. 
The garden oficrs recreation 
to its amiable owner, and he, 
while not neglecting the very 
best forms, also amuses himself 
occasionally by transforming one 
or more trees into the monogram 
of his wife^s name and his own. 
The columnar form elsewhere 
figured is very well developed here, 
some of the specimens approaching 
eighteen feet in height. They 
are regularly staked, and high 

A Pear Tree from handsome Es- lij^gs of wire COnnect them bv 
palier trained to form the name . i i% 

NALLET. the tops, SO that they are held 

firmly together. 
Numerous Palmetto trees occur here, and it is noticeable 
that the lines which the trees are to follow are laid down 
at first with willow or other slender flexible rods. A Plum 
tree, trained as a Palmetto Verrier, was very ornamental, 
the lines of fruit darkening the long, neatly guided branches. 
Nearly 1000 lbs. of galvanized wire have been used in 
this garden. Curtains of Pear and other trees, trained on 
slender trellises of this wire, are very well formed. The 




BRUNO Y. 



635 



a high price^ a 



Fig. 374. 



Peach is grown to some extent against the walls, and success- 
fallTj some of the trees looking almost as well as those at 
]Montreiiil_, though the walls are not so high. A large 
portion of the wall space is devoted to oblique cordons of the 
Easter Beurre_, and these were in excellent bearing ; they had 
been planted six years^ were about twelve feet long, and. bore 
from ten to fifteen fruit each. Planted at twenty inches 
apart, and confined to one stem, which is never cut back 
at the point if the wood be ripe, they soon cover the wall, 
and, the good fruit of this variety fetching 
quick return is afforded by the 
trees. There can be no doubt that 
this is the best phase of the cordon 
system against walls, and, as the 
same plan has been carried out on 
all the walls of the new fruit garden 
of the municipality of Paris in the 
Bois de Vincennes, there must be 
some good reasons in its favour. 
Several small walled gardens are 
being made in connexion with the 
chief one of M. Nallet, and here 
again the greater portion of the 
wall surface is devoted to Easter 
BeuiTe, the plantations being one 
and two years old. Six years ago, 
the first trees in the garden were 
planted, and I doubt much if any 
fruit garden in existence better illustrates what may be done 
vrith good management in a short time. 

The practice of grafting by approach the branches of 
the Pear trees is extensively employed here, as shown in 
Figs. 370, 371, and 372. The figures will better explain 
the mode of training and the aspect of the trees in the 
garden than any description. I am much indebted to 
31. Nallet for his kindness in sending me accurate sketches 
of some of his most remarkable trees. 

A distinct and apparently useful form of tree I met with 
here for the first time. It is called the crinoline form, and 




Pear Tree 
Crinoline 
hish. 



trained 
for] 



ten 



the 
feet 



1 



636 NOTES OF A HORTICULTURAL TOUR IN FRANCE. 



Fig. 375. 



is made by taking eigbt brancbes from tbe base of the tree, 
and bringing them outside a circular hoop, allowing one 
main stem to ascend erect. The branches, after gi'owing a 
little aboye the hoop, which giyes a desirable uniformity to 

the base, ascend at regular inter- 
yals to the top, where they are 
neatly united to the erect shoot. 
The figures will explain this form, 
but the stake in Tig. 375 has been 
made much too large by the en- 
grayer. It should be of iron. This 
figure is in other respects a good 
representation of a handsome speci- 
men in M. Nallet^'s garden. Each 
branch being kept distinct, and the 
tree being well opened up by this 
system, the effect was yeiy good 
indeed, and the crops too, con- 
sidering that they were a failure 





Pear Tree in Crinoline form, 
seventeen feet high and six 
feet in diameter. 



Plan of Pear Tree, shown in Fig. 375. 



throughout Prance during the past year. A specimen of the 
Duchesse d^Angouleme trained thus was one of the most 
pleasing looking trees I have eyer seen. The method has more 
advantages than would appear at first sight — the long fruit- 
ing branches being thoroughly exposed to the sun and light 
from bottom to top, the branches being held firm, and the 
tree being altogether a decided improvement upon the 
pyramid for important positions in gardens. 



INDEX. 



ABYSSINIAN Musa, 55, 84 
Acacia lophantlia, 188 
Acanthus latifolius, 96, 210 
Agave americana, 187 
Ailantus glandulosa, a valuable town 

tree, 171 
Andropogon squarrosum, 212 
Angers, 610 

Apartments, plant decoration of, 262 

Apple, the, as a cordon, 323 

Apples, selection of the finer kinds for 
growing on the cordon system, 343 

Aralia edulis, 212 

japonica, 213 
papyrifera, 187 
, , papyrifera stored in caves under 
the Jardin Fleuriste, 151 

Aralia Sieboldi, 214 
spinosa, 213 

Argenteuil, asparagus culture at, 501 

Artichoke (Cynara Scolymus) as a fine- 
leaved plant, 65 

Artichokes, varieties of, used in Paris, 
516 

Arundo conspicua, 215 
,, Donax, 214 

,, versicolor, 214 
ilsparagus culture, 501 
Asparagus, mode of forcing, 513 
Asphalte, preparation of, 131 
roads, 135 

used for the footways of the 
Boulevards, 130 
Asplenium nidus-avis, 189 
Avenue de I'Empereur, 124 
,, „ rimperatrice, 124 
,, des Champs Elysees, 3 



BAMBOOS, hardy, 141, 215 
Bambusa viridis-glaucescens, 215 
Barbe de Capucin, 499 
Barometer employed by market gar- 
deners of Paris, 470 
Bassin de Latone at Versailles, 249 
Neptune, 247 



Bathing, 136 

Bedding plants, excellent houses for, in 
Jardin Fleuriste, 148 

Beauty of form a want in our conser- 
vatories, 282 

Binette, the, 568 

Bird feeding in the Tuileries gardens, 16 

Bois de Boulogne, 18 
,, Vincennes, 35 

Borders in front of fruit walls planted 
with cordons, 355 

Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon at Ver- 
sailles, 247 

Bosquet du Roi at Versailles, 245 

Boulevard Richard Lenoir, 122 

Boulevards, architecture of, 113 
„ origin of the, 118 
,, roadways and footpaths of, 
120, 129 

Boulevards, the, 112 

,, ,, under Louis XIV., 120 

Bourg-la-Reine, 623 

Bracket, galvanized iron, for support- 
ing temporary coping, 436 

Breffit, Messrs. E., and Co., 599 

Britons, intelligent, their keen appre- 
ciation of a well-ordered city helps to 
pay for improvements in Paris, 103 

Brown, Messrs. J. B., and Co., 599 

Brunoy, 633 

Bur reed, the, 581 

CAFES, stalls, &c., in public gar- 
dens, 4 
Caladium bataviense, 56 

esculentum, 56, 189 
Cannas, how they are stored in the 

Jardin Fleuriste, 151 
Cannas, the, 191 

Calville Blanc apple, how to grow it to 
perfection in this country, 337 

Calville Blanc apple, mode of growing 
it at Montreuil, 441 

Cardoon, the, best sorts grown in 
France, 516 



G88 



INDEX. 



Cardoon, tbe, culture of, 522 

Carrot, small, of tbe Paris market, 

culture of, 520 
Catacombs, the. 111 
Caucannier, M., his establishment for 

forcing asparagus, 514 
Cauliflower, kinds grown round Paris, 

519 

Cauliflower, forcing of the, 524 
Caves for storing plants under the 

Jardin Fleuriste, 151 
Caves, mushroom, 472 
Centaurea babylonica, 217 
Cercis australis, 36 
Chairs, garden, 563 
Chamserops excelsa, 219 
Champignonnistes, 471 
Champs Elysees, 1 

Change, necessity for a radical one in 

our city improvements, 116 
Chasselas grape, long wall of, at Eon- 

tainebleau, 252 
Chatillon, 628 

Chevallier, M., his garden at Mon- 

treuil, 442 
Chicory, improved variety of, 517 
Chloride of calcium, use of, in fruit 

room, 566 
Church gardens and cemeteries, 104 
City graveyards, gardening in, 106 
Clianthus Dampieri, 142 
Climates of Paris and London compared, 

548 

Climbers trained up the stems of trees, 
57 

Clipping trees a barbarism, 260 
Cloche, its use in lettuce culture, 490 

„ the, 596 

,, where to obtain, 599 
Cockchafer, ravages of, 618 
Colonnade, the, at Versailles, 246 
Cohimnar training, 391 
Concert of the Champs Elysees, 5 
Conservatory in Jardin d' Acclimatation, 

34 

Conservatories, -wooden shading for, 
586 

Conservatories, frequently unsatisfac- 
tory, both as regards contents and 
design, 280 

Contrast between the keeping of the 
grass in the parks of Paris and 
London, 37 

Copper beech, the, unwisely recom- 
mended for town planting, 117 

Cordon, horizontal, advantages of, 350 
,, mode of supporting the hori- 
zontal, 336 

Cordon, mode of supporting the hori- 
zontal, 354 



Cordons, Mr. James Barnes, of Bicton, 
on, 351 

Cordons, Mr. J. A. Watson on, 352 
Cordon, pinching the shoots of the 

horizontal, 341 
Cordon, management of the, 339 
,, spiral, the, 366 
,, system, how it may be advan- 
tageously adopted m fruit -wall bor- 
ders, 352 

Cordon system, objections to, answered. 
348 

Cordon system of fruit grooving, 334 

„ what is it? 334 
Cordons, grafting to unite, 342, 348 

more than five miles of, in 

Imperial Grardens at Versailles, 432 
Corn salad, 498 
Courteliere, 254 

Courtois-Gerard and Pavard, MM., 516 

Covent Grarden, 540 

Crambe cordifolia, 220 

Crinoline form, a good one for the 

Pear, 635 
Crowded streets and bad arrangements 

not confined to the central parts of 

London, 117 
Cucumis perennis, 220 
Cuscutas, the, in Jardin des Plantes, 75 
Cyrtanthera carnea, 96 

DATISCA cannabina, 220 
Deciduous trees, reasons why they 
succeed in cities, 161 
Deciduous trees, the best for London, 

161 
Dijon, 609 

Dimorphanthus manchuricus, 142 
Doucin stock, 355 

,, „ description of, 357 
DracKnas for room decoration, 265, 27 5 
,, the, 195 



EASTER Beurre pear, double grafting 
of, 430 

Easter Beurre pear grown on walls in 
j France, 322 
I Echeveria metallica, 195 
I Edgings for parks, public gardens, kc 
693 

Edgings of ivy, bow to make, 310 

Elm, large-leaved Weeping, a fine town- 
tree, 172 

Elm, the, as a city tree, 170 

Elymus arenarius, 221 

Endives, used in Paris, best kinds of, 
517 

English cemeteries, 107 



INDEX. 



639 



Erianthus Eavennce, 32 
Erythrinas, 57 

Espaliers in the Imperial Gardens at 

Versailles, 425 
Espaliers, protection for, 582 
„ self-supporting, 333 

mode of protecting, 430 
Evergreen trees that flourish in cities, 
177 

Evergreen trees and shrubs destroyed 
by London smut, 161 



TIAN palms, old specimens of, in 

Jl Jardin des Plantes, 75 

Ferdinanda eminens, 196 

Ferulas, the, 221 

Fete of the gardeners, 31 

Ficus elastica, 196 

Fig culture in the neighbourhood of 
Paris, 395 

Fig trees buried in the earth to pre- 
serve them from frost, 395, 399 

Fig trees planted on sloping ground, 
401 

Floating baths on the Seine, 136 
Fontainebleau, and the Gladiolus 

grounds of M. Souchet, 251 
Forcing, frames for, 568 
Formal margins to clumps in bad 

taste, 61 

Fountains, large ones at Versailles and 

at tbe Crystal Palace, hideous, 240 
French apples, high price of, in London 

fruit shops, 337 
French writer, a, on the squares of 

Paris and London, 86 
Frepillon, mushroom culture at, 477 
Fruit branches, the lines they are to 

follow first marked on the walls, 444 
Fruit buds, grafting of, on bare spaces, 

393 

Fruit culture : how are we to improve ? 
312 

Fruit culture, list of gardens where it 

may be seen, 545 
Fruit garden for northern France, plan 

of, by M. J. Durand, 626 
Fruit garden of the city of Paris in the 

Bois de Vincennes, 433 
Fruit rooms, drying, 566 

,, shelves, improved, 566 

,, trees, improved forms of, for es- 
palier and wall training, 426 
Fruit trees, nurseries for, near Paris, 

546 

Fruit trees planted to a much greater 
extent in France than in England, 
614 

Funkia sub-cordata, 57 



n ARDEN of Acclimatization in the 

VX Bois de Boulogne, 32 

Gardens in which the more instructive 

features of practical horticulture 

may be seen in and near Paris, 545 
Ghastly result of using immortelles in 

Parisian cemeteries, 108 
Gladioli, list of choice, 257 
Gladiolus culture at Fontainebleau, 253' 
Glass houses, good arrangement of, in 

Jardin Fleuriste, 142 
Gourd, large variety used in Paris, 519 
Grafting by approach to cover bare 

stems, 384 
Grafting wax, 565 

Grape culture on walls quite practica- 
ble in England, 412 

Grapes, forcing of, at Thomery, 421 
,, preservation of, without letting 
them hang on the vines, 405 

Grapes, successful keeping of, in dwell- 
ing house, 410 

Grin, M., his system, 369 

Ground, market garden, price of, near 
Paris, 462 

Gynerium argenteum, 223 

HALLES Centrales, 542 
Hardy herbaceous plants, &c., for 
subtropical gardens, list of, 237 
Hardy subtropical plants that may be 

raised from seed, 338 
Hardy plants for the subtropical gar- 
den, 210 

Hardy plants noticed in the Jardin des 

Plantes, 73 
Haricots, kinds used in Paris, 519 
Hawthorn family, the, 173 
Helianthus orgyalis, 225 
Heracleums, the, 225 
Hibiscus roseus, 225 
Horse chestnut, the, 167 
Hose on wheels, cost of, 41 
,, on wheels for watering roads, 40 
watering with, in market gardens, 
465 

Hose, watering with perforated, 39 
Hotel Cluny, garden of, 102 

„ de Ville, plant decorations at, 

266 



INCISIONS made to regulate the 
growth of fruit trees, 381 
Indigofera Dosua, 64 

floribunda, 65 
Isolated plants, 52 

Ivy and its uses in Parisian gardens, 
305 



640 



INDEX. 



Ivy edgings, 307 

in the Emperor's garden 

at the Tuileries, 13 
Ivy, propagation of, for making edgings 

in the public gardens, 158 



JARDIN des Fleurs at Versailles^ 
250 

Jardin des Plantes, 68 

,, ,, collection of pear 

trees in, 70 
Jardin des Plantes, merits of, 69 
,, faults of, 11 

,, ,, smallness of grant 

to, 76 

Jardin Fleuriste, and the other public 

nurseries of Paris, 139 
Jardin Fleuriste, collections of plants 

in, 153 

Jardin Fleuriste, trial ground in, 153 
Jvincus glaucus, used for tying plants 
and fruit trees, 580 



LAND, dearness of, in London, no 
real objection to extensive improve- 
ments, 115 
La Fosse Commune, 110 
Lectures given in the Luxembourg 

garden, 80 
Lepere, M., his garden at Montreuil, 
445 

Lettuces, best kinds of, in the Paris 

market, 517 
Lettuce, Grotte, culture of, 497 

Petite Noire, culture of, 493 

,, the Passion, ,, ,, 498 

,, Verte Maraichere. culture of, 

496 

Library in the Jardin Fleuriste, 155 
- Lilac, white, forcing of, 537 

Lime tree, the worst of all trees for 
cities, 169 

Limnocharis Humboldtii, 73 

Locust tree, the, 167 

London graveyards needlessly muti- 
lated in converting them into gar- 
dens, 106 

London squares, 82 

Longchamps, watering racecourse of, 
39 

Louvre, gardens of, 11 
Luxembourg garden, 76 

fountain in, 79 
,, ,, system of floral 

decoration in, 77 
Lygeum Spartum, used for tying, 580 
Lyons, 600 
„ public garden at, 600 



MACHE, 498 
Machines for transplanting trees 
in Paris, their advantages, 558 
Macleaya cordata, 227 
Mange-tout, an excellent vegetable 

worthy of general culture, 520 
Manure employed in the market gar- 
dens of Paris, 463 
Maples, the, 179 

Market, fruit, flower, and vegetable, a 
good one required for London, 541 

Market gardeners of Paris, their con- 
dition, 469 

Market gardens of Paris, 462 

Mai'kets, flower, fruit, and vegetable, 
539 

Markets, flower, of Paris, 543 
Markets of Paris well arranged for the 

convenience of the retail buyer, 539, 

541 

Mastic, r Homme Lefort, 565 
Medicinal and economical plants in the 
Jardin des Plantes better arranged 
than in British botanic gardens, 72 
Melianthus major, 227 
Melons of the Paris market, 518 
j\[ery-sur-Oise, mushroom culture at, 

477 
Meudon, 260 

Mixed beds in Pare Monceau, examples 
of, 50 

Moloposi^ermum cicutarium, 228 
Monstera deliciosa, 197 
Montrouge, mushroom culture at, 472 
Musa Cavendishi, 55 

,, Ensete, 55, 197 
Mushroom cave, descent into a Parisian, 

472 

Mushroom cave, plan of, 497 
culture, 472 

culture, depth at which it is 
carried on, 484 
Mushroom culture in cellars, 485 

,, ,, the open air, 487 

Mushroom spawn, preparation of at 

Mery, 482 
Mushrooms, places where they are 
grown near Paris, 484 



ALLET, M., 6S3 
Nantes, public garden at, 613 
Napoleon peach tree, the, 449 
Nature's plan of arranging flowers, 292 
Navet, kinds grown in the Paris market, 
519 

Necessity of public nurseries for London 

and our other great cities, 139 
Nelumbium speciosum, 73 
New Zealand Flax used for tying, 581 



INDEX. 



641 



Mcotiana macropliylla, 228 
,, wigandioides, 199 

Numeroteur, the, 572 

Nursery for herbaceous plants used in 
the public gardens, 157 

Nursery for boulevard and avenue 
trees, 155 

Nursery for shrubs for the public parks 
and gardens, 157 

Nursery, public, for conifers and rhodo- 
dendrons, 158 



0A.K:S, the, 179 
Oidium on the vine, mode of de- 
stroying, 417 
Oleanders in the gardens of the Luxem- 
bourg, 80 
Oleander, the, culture of, 528 
Orange, the, culture of, 531 
Orange tree, between 400 and 500 

years old, 244 
Orange trees, carriage for transporting, 
561 

Orange trees in tubs, a costly and use- 
less fancy, 15 
Orange trees in tubs, what to do with 

them, 15 
Orange trees, &c., tubs for, 563 
Orchard culture improved, the remedy 
for our badly supplied markets, 327 
Orobanches in Jardin des Plantes, 75 
Our cities, their condition disgraceful, 
114 

Our conservatories, how to improve 
their aspect, 290 



PAILLASSON, frame for making, 
570 

Palais des Thermes, garden of, 102 

Palais Royal, garden of, 100 

Pall Mall Gazette, the, on the grass in 
the London parks, 37 

Palmette Verrier, the, how to train, 
373 

Palms, 296 

,, for room decoration, 273 
in the Pare Monceau, 55 
,, list of kinds for stoves, 304 
,, list of kinds that may be grown 
in cool houses, 304 

Paiiicum bulbosum, 229 

Panier, the, 34, 567 

Paradise stock, 355 

„ ,, description of, 357 

,, M. Carriere on, 356 

,, Professor Koch, on, 356 

,, ,, propagation of, 345 

„ raising the apple on, 345 



Pare des Buttes Chaumont, 59 

„ ,, alpine plants 

in, 62 
Pare Monceau, 48 

„ description of the plant- 
ing in, 54 

Pare Monceau, system of planting in, 48 

Pare Monceau, variety in, 49 

Paris and London, climates of, com- 
pared, 550 

Parisian squares, idea of them first taken 
from those in London, 85 

Parisian squares, regulations in, 104 

Parks only a partial good if large 
cities be not well opened up by airy 
roads and small squares, 112 

Paulownia imperialis, as a city and 
boulevard tree, 170 

Paving of the boulevards, 130 

Peach gardens of Montreuil, 440 
,, the, 325 

,, ,, as a cordon, 366 

,, „ ,, M. Lepere on, 

368 

Peach, the, may be cultivated in 

England and L'eland as successfully 

as near Paris, 460 
Peach tree, disease of, from exposure to 

cold, in spring, 442 
Peach tree in the U form, 451 

,, ,, how to train, 

458 

Peach tree, the French mode of manag- 
ing distinct from ours, 440 

Peach tree, young, protected by wooden 
coping, 443 

Pear, Chinese, 173 

,, doing badly on quince stock in- 
duced to emit its own roots, 622 

Pear, the, as a cordon, 359 

,, how to improve its culture, 
312 

Pear, the, regrafting of worthless sorts 

with good varieties, 390 
Pear tree, pyramidal training of, 378 
, , proper mode of pinching the 

shoots of, 394 
Pears, bad kinds regrafted with good 

ones, 323 

Pears, bad varieties of, should be 

destroyed, 323 
Pears, best kiuds of, for the cordon 

system, 361 
Pears, good varieties, selection of, 321 
quantities imported from France, 

313 

Pears, varieties that should be grown 

against walls, 322 
Pears, vast numbers of, propagated at 

Angers, 610 

T T 



642 



INDEX. 



Pears, winter, how to improve our cul- 
ture of, 317 

Pelargonium Endlicherianum, 70 

Pendulous training, 388, 392 

Permanent artistic planting the noblest 
kind of gardening, 22 

Phormium tenax, 153, 200 

Phytolacca decandra, 229 

Pinching the summer shoots of fruit 
trees, proper and improper modes of, 
394 

Pits and frames, mats for covering, 

569 

Place de la Concorde, 2 

,, du Carrousel, 9 

Napoleon III., gardens in, 9 

„ lloyale, 99 
Plan of fruit garden for the north of 

France, 434 
Plane tree, the best for cities, 165 
Plane trees, noble, in Berkeley-square, 

160 

Planera acuminata, 36 
Planting in public gardens, suggestions 
for, 25 

Plants, bad elfect of using those that are 
too tender, 49 

Plants isolated on the grass, 52 

,, used as food, good arrange- 
ment of, in the Jardin des Plantes, 
72 

Ploi^gh hoe, the, 568 
Polygonum cuspidatum, 54, 229 
Polymnia grandis, 199 

„ pyramidalis, 199 
Poor, the, business-like way of burying 

them in Parisian cemeteries, 109 
Poplar, the Lombardy, 172 
Popular idea of the difficulty of growing 

trees in London an erroneous one, 

159 

Potatoes, early, mode of raising, 527 
Pre Catalan, the, 31 
Propagating house in the Jardin Fleu- 
riste, 145 

Propagation of plants in the Jardin 

Fleuriste, 146 
Public bathing, increased facilities for, 

much wanted, 137 
Public bathing, suggestions towards 

improved means of, 137 
Public nurseries, advantages of, to a 

city, 139 

Public nurseries for trees, shrubs, and 
hardy flowers, 155 

Public nurseries of Paris, a great help 
to its gardening, 139 

Punch and Judy shows, 8 

Pure air and light naturally the pro- 
perty of all, 117 



RAIDISSEUR, the, 576 
,, simplest and best 

form of, 578 
Railway embankments, fruit growing 
on, 332 

Reform in the conservatory, 280 
Restaurant in the Bois de Vincennes, 36 
Restaurants, &c., in public gardens, 

advantages of, 4 
Rheum Emodi, 231 

Rhubarb not grown by the French, 
609 

Rhus glabra laciniata, 231 
Ricinus communis, 201 
Roads, keeping moist, with deliquescent 
salts, 45 

Road-makine, with cemetery headstones 

five and six years old, 110 
Robiniasin North Italy, 168 
Rock work in the Pare des Ruttes 

Cbaumont, 62 
Room decoration in Paris, 272 

,, for locomotion a great want iu 

our cities, 115 
Rose order, flowering trees of, 173 
Roses, showing of in France, 535 
Rotation of crops in Parisian market 

gardens, 468 
Rouen, 614 

,, public garden at, 616 
Rush, common Hard, its use in tying, 

580 



SALADS, culture of, 489 
Saulsaie, Ecole Regionale de la, 604 
Scarolle, 500 
Sceaux, 628 

School of botany in Jardin des Plantes, 
73 

Screw used iu transplanting, 560 
Seaforthia elegans, 203 
Seat with tent-like shade, 564 
Seats, garden, 563, 564 
Secateur, the, 574 

Shoots of fruit trees, proper and imr 

proper modes of cutting, 394 
Shoi-t pinching system applied to the 

peach, 369 
Solanums, the, 203 
Sophora japonica, 176 
„ pendula, 173 
Space well utilized in the houses in 

the Jardin Fleuriste, 147 
Spai'ganium ramosura used for tying 

grafts and buds, 581 
Spring vans for conveying plants to 

the Bote) de Ville, 154 
Spring vans for conveying bedding plants 

from the Jardin Fleuriste, 154 



INDEX. 



G43 



Square de Belleville, 100 

la Chapelle Expiatoire de 
Louis XVI., 100 
Square de Montrouge, 95 

des Arts et Metiers, 98 
des Batignolles, 91 
,, ,, list of trees, 

shrubs, and flowers in, 94 
Square des Innocents, 100 
,, du Temple, 96 
Louvois, 101 
Montholon, 101 
,, St. Clothilde, 105 
,, St. Jacques, 82 
,, de Vintimille, 103 
Squares opened on the Parisian plan 
only want to be tried to be generally 
adopted in London, 90 
Squares, places, church gardens, kc, 
82 

Stalactite cave in the Pare des Buttes 

Chaumont, 59 
Stationers' Hall Court, plane tree in, 

160 

St. Cloud, gardens at, 259 

Stocks for the apple, 355 

Straw mats, frame for making, 570 

Street gardens in English cities, 164 

Students in the Jardin Fleuiiste, 1 55 

Subterranean quarries devoted to mush- 
room culture, 477 

Subtropical plants, a list of 100 of the 
best kinds, 208 

Subtropical plants, a list of 24 of the 
best kinds, 208 

Subtropical plants that may be raised 
from seed, 209 

Subtropical plants for the flower garden, 
182 

Subtropical system, how far it is worthy 
of adoption in England, 183 

Subtropical system, what it has taught 
us, 182 

Suburbs of London, bad arrangement of, 
118 

Suggestions towards making an orna- 
mental promenade of a glass covered 
way on the same plan as that between 
the houses in the Jardin Fleuriste, 
144 

Suisnes, 628 

Sweet potato, the, 525 

11EMP0RARY coping, a good one, 
. 583 
Thalia deulbata, 32 

Tour, horticultural, through parts of 

France in 1868, 600 
Tour St. Jacques, the, 82 



Training, 373 

„ of pyramidal pear tree, 378 
Transplanting, excellent mode of, 559 

,, large trees, 551 

Tree beauty, a French ideal of, 259 
Trees and shrubs for cities, a selection 

of the best, 165 
Trees, fine sorts worthy of being more 

generally planted, 178 
Trees for city parks, avenues, gardens, 

streets, etc., 159 
Trees, large, results of experiments iu 

transplanting, 558 
Trees may be grown better in London 

than in Paris, 159 
Trees of weeping habit, 172 

on the Boulevards, planting of, 

127 

Trees planted in summer, 60, 80 
Treille du Roi at Fontainebleau, 252 
Trianons, Grand and Petit, 249 
Tritomas, the, 232 
Troyes, 619 

Truck for tubs or large pots, 562 
Tuileries, gardeus of, 12 
Tulip tree, the, 176 
Tying plants, material for, 579 



"jJHDEA bipinnatifida, 205 

VARIETY, great advantage of, in 
city gardens, 28 
Variety, want of, in gardens, 23 
Vegetable culture near Paris, list of 

places where it may be seen, 547 
Vegetables, insufficiency of, in London, 
540 

Vegetables in Paris market, tender and 
good, no matter how hot the weather, 
466 

Vegetables of the Paris market, ob- 

servatioDS on some of the, 515 
Verbascum vernale, 233 
Verbesina gigantea, 206 
Versailles, 239 

,, gardens at, in wretched 

taste, 241 
Versailles, orangery at, 244 

,, Imperial fruit and forcing 

gardens at, 424 
Ver blanc, the, 255 
Vilmorin, Andrieux, MM., and Co., 

516 

Vine culture at Thomery, 412 

Vine, mode of grafting, practised at 

Thumery, 421 
Vines, fine collection of, in Jardin 

d'Acclimatatiou, 32 



644 



INDEX. 



WAGES in market gardens of Paris, 
470 

Walks in Frencli gardens frequently too 

much displayed, 64 
Walks, "widening of, to permit of chil- 
dren using them as playgrounds, 91 
Wall surface, more, wanted in our 

gardens, 317 
AValls, concrete, 317 

, , for fruit growing made of earth, 

602, 607 
Walls, fruit, protection for, 582 

,, for fruit trees should be white, 

318 

Wails for fruit trees, neglect of, 461 
Water, advantages of an abundant sup- 
ply of, in gardens, 466 
Watering, cost of, 43 



Watering in Parisian market gardens, 
464 

Watering the parks, gardens, roads, 

etc., 37 
Watering with carts, 43 
Waterworks and fountains of Versailles, 

247 

Wellingtonias in Bois de Vincennes, 37 

Wigandia macrophylla, 206 

Wire, attaching it to garden walls, 587 
, , galvanized, its sizes and price, 591 

Woodwardias in the Luxembourg gar- 
den, 81 

Workmen in market gardens of Paris, 
470 

YTTCCAS, the, 234 



THE END. 



LONDON : 

SAVILL, EDWAEDS AND CO., PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, 
COVEN T GARDEN. 



LIBRARV OF CONGRESS 




